Testing Nature
by Ruka9
Summary: During a mission in Deep Jungle, Marluxia is kidnapped by botanists, and trapped in a lab. Axel and Demyx have to rescue Marluxia from the lab before any harm is caused to him, including harm to his abilities.
1. Do A Mission

"You three, are worthless."

"Huh?"

Axel leaned his head back to see a glaring Saix. He, Demyx, and Marluxia were sitting lazily around the Grey Room. Axel was stretched out across on of the larger sofas, Demyx was sitting cross-legged on a shorter sofa with his sitar, and Marluxia in a chair with his legs hanging over an armrest.

"What'd you call us?" Axel asked.

"You three are worthless." Saix repeated. "You are supposed to be on a mission like the rest of the Organization. Not strolling around the Castle leisurely with ease."

"First of all, we're not strolling, we're sitting." Axel said. "Second, we would have been on a mission, if-"

"We had been assigned one." Marluxia concluded.

"Everyone was assigned a mission today." Saix said.

"If we were assigned one, we never heard of it." Axel stated.

"Not that we're complaining." Demyx added. "It's nice to have a br-" Demyx stopped mid-word as Saix glared darkly at him.

"There will be no talk of breaks." Saix darkly stated. "You three haven't completed a mission in two weeks. You need to complete a mission. Today."

"B…but X, er, Saix we-"

"Today!" Saix snapped at Demyx. Demyx flinched back, and hugged his sitar defensively.

"I…I was just going to say that we don't know what missions, there are." Demyx hesitantly said. Saix glared blankly at Demyx before turning his gaze away from his frightened expression.

"My, somebody needs to control their temper." Marluxia said.

"Way to go Saix. Yell at the guy who was only trying to inform you." Axel sarcastically said.

"Silence. Here." Saix dropped a sheet of paper over Axel that softly landed on his stomach. "These are the missions you may choose from. I don't care if you go alone or together, just complete one of those missions, and turn in a _full_ report." A dark portal appeared behind him, and he stepped back into it, disappearing into the darkness.

"Direct isn't he?" Marluxia commented as he sat properly in his chair.

"Great. Now we have to do a mission." Axel said with annoyance as he glanced over the paper. Only three missions were listed.

"I hate doing missions." Demyx complained as he dismissed his sitar.

"That's because you don't like to do things that require physical movement." Marluxia said.

"No. I don't like being forced to do things. I don't like orders." Demyx corrected.

"You just like things to be easy." Axel said.

"Who doesn't. Anyway, what options do we have?" Demyx pushed Axel into a sitting position and sat down next to him, Marluxia sitting on Axel's other side.

"Let me see." Marluxia took the paper from Axel's hands and scanned it. "Looks like we have three options. Are we going solo, or together?"

"I'm not going alone." Demyx said.

"It's not safe for him to go alone." Axel said

"Fine, three on one." Marluxia said. "These are the options: One, Atlantica. We-"

"No." Axel cut in.

"You didn't let me finish."

"Hate water. Next."

"There's Neverland. We have to defeat a Tailwind."

"That world means flying, which means heights. Next." Demyx said.

"You three are picky. The only one left is Deep Jungle. 'This world is usually ignored, but some suspicious activity has been noticed. The objection is recon and observations.' What do you think of this one?"

"Recon? I like it." Demyx said.

"Never been to Deep Jungle before, I'll give it a chance." Axel said,

"Finally you guys agreed on something." Marluxia said. "Deep Jungle? Sounds like my kind of place."

"We're not going there to plant a garden, we're going there to do recon." Axel stated.

"I never said anything about planting a garden, I just want to look at some of the plants there. Maybe there are some I don't know about."

"No harm in taking a side trip, as long as we do the mission at the same time." Demyx said.

"Whatever. Just as long as we complete the mission. I don't feel like getting yelled at by Saix again." Axel said.

"Pffft, don't worry about X-face, we'll prove him we aren't worthless." Demyx said, and summoned a dark portal.

"Did you open that to the right place?" Axel asked.

"I hope so." Demyx said.

"That's not very reassuring." Axel said.

"One way to find out." Marluxia mentioned. He shoved Axel out of his seat, and he toppled into the portal.

"Marly!" Axel shouted as he disappeared into the portal.

"Was that really a smart thing to do?" Demyx asked. Marluxia shrugged.

"Probably not. But I just couldn't miss the opportunity." Marluxia got off the sofa, and followed after Axel. Demyx rolled his eyes, and followed after his friends.

* * *

><p>AN: Hello again, and welcome to my next fanfic. So Deep Jungle, not a very common place to write about, so I thought I'd give it a chance. I know this chapter is short, but necessary. As I always say, every story starts off slow.<p>

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts


	2. Detour

There was a reason Deep Jungle was ignored. The terrain made it hard to travel trough. The forest floor was littered with fallen branches and mossy rocks, and the long vines that hung low from the ample trees seemed to reach out and grab you as you passed by. But the Jungle also had a positive side. In the center of the Jungle, there was a large lagoon inhabited by sleepy hippopotamus, and dwarf trees circling it. Past the lagoon, the Jungle starts to clear, and it is much easier to walk around. At the farthest part of the Jungle, a large rock formation with a cave at the top led to a roaring waterfall. The waterfall deposited into an enormous clear blue lake that was the main water source of the Jungle.

A dark portal opened in a somewhat clear patch in the Jungle, and Axel stumbled out. He tripped over an upturned root, and fell hard onto his stomach.

"Ow." he groaned.

"Axel? Are you okay?"

Demyx had stepped out of the dark portal in time to see Axel trip over the root.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Axel asked.

"Marly, maybe you shouldn't have shoved him through." Demyx said.

"Hmm?"

Marluxia had become quickly distracted by a browning flower that hung woefully from an emaciated vine.

"Marly?" Demyx asked.

"Poor thing." Marluxia said as he stroked the dry petals.

"No, you are not starting with this." Axel said as he took Demyx's outstretched hand.

"But look at it Axel. The poor thing's suffering." Marluxia said.

"I don't care." Axel said as he brushed dirt off his cloak. "We're here on a mission, not to satisfy your addiction."

"It's not an addiction, it's my way of life." Marluxia defended.

"That's a stupid life choice." Axel commented.

Marluxia sighed.

"I know you don't understand because of your pyro instincts, but please try to respect mine." Marluxia said with pride. "It needs me." He petted the brown petals gently.

"Just forget about it, it's dead. There's nothing you can do about it."

"I beg to differ."

Marluxia lightly lifted the flower with one hand, and waved his other in front of it.

"Rise my dear one, do not be afraid. I am here to protect you." he whispered to the flower.

The flower's colored started to refurbish, and it slowly lifted from his hand.

"Wow Marly." Demyx said as he admired the flower's now pearl white petals, and purple center. "How did you do that?"

"You know how they say talking to plants is good for them? I can take that to a higher level."

"That can not be possible." Axel claimed.

"Thus is the miracle of controlling nature." Marluxia said.

"Are you planning on doing this the entire time?"

"Only when necessary."

"You had better not. We have more important things to take care of."

"I liked you better when you didn't care about doing missions." Marluxia complained.

"I liked you better when you didn't care about flowers." Axel growled.

"When did that ever happen?" Demyx asked.

"Shush." Axel said.

Once they were remote from the vine, a dark shadow moved swiftly, and cut down the vine with the flower. A plastic box was held under the vine as it landed with a thump. The container was quickly sealed, and taken into the shadows of the trees.

* * *

><p>The three proceeded through the dense jungle. There was no definite path, so they had to make their own, without setting flame to anything.<p>

"I can see why this place was never explored." Axel said as he shoved a vine out of his face. "It's impossible to get through."

"It's not that hard." Marluxia said.

"That's because this is paradise for you." Axel said. "What do you think Demyx?"

"It is hard to get through." Demyx replied. "You have to admit that much Marly."

"Aren't you the most precious thing!"

"Marly?" Demyx stopped following Axel, and turned to Marluxia. "Marly what are you doing?"

Marluxia had lingered behind, and was crouched down in front of a tree, looking admirably at something.

"I didn't know little guys like you lived here."

"Great, what did he find this time?" Axel asked.

He had realized that no one had been following him, and retraced his steps to find them. Demyx shrugged.

"Marly, who are you talking to?" Demyx asked.

"This little one of course." Marluxia said, gesturing to whatever was in front of him.

Axel and Demyx approached Marluxia, and were confused at what he was so interested in.

"What is that thing?" Axel asked.

"It's not a thing, it's a Venus Fly Trap." Marluxia said.

"A planet trap?" Axel asked.

"No." Marluxia irritably said. "It's a type of carnivorous plant. But he's a little one."

He tapped the inside of the small, green plant's head, and it's mouth snapped shut.

"That's neat." Demyx said.

"Wait."

Marluxia tapped the top of the Fly Trap's head, and this time, the mouth went from pointing vertically, to horizontally.

"Good morning little one."

He held his hand next to the Fly Trap, and it slowly turned towards it, then rubbed it's head against it, similar to a cat.

"That's not natural." Axel said. His facial expression was somewhat confused, but also disgusted.

"Isn't he cute?" Marluxia asked.

He scratched under the Fly Trap's chin, and it started to purr.

"That's even more unnatural." Axel commented, and moved Demyx in front of him.

"He's not unnatural, he's adorable, and affectionate."

As if to concur, the Fly Trap purred louder.

"That's really creepy." Axel said.

"How did you do that?" Demyx asked.

"I bring life into this world." Marluxia said haughtily. "Actually, it's the same concept as when I helped that flower revive it's color."

"Are you done yet?" Axel asked.

"Demyx, do you think you can help me? This cutie's parched." Marluxia said, ignoring Axel's question.

"Um, sure." Demyx said.

He held out his hand, and a small bubble of water formed. The orb of water hovered away from him, and dropped with a small splash at the base of the Fly Trap. The Fly Trap stretched it's stem high, and cooed with pleasure. It's mouth seemed to turn upwards into a smile.

"There we go. That should last you a while." Marluxia said, and fondled the Fly Trap's head. It purred, and nuzzled against Marluxia's hand.

"Are you done yet?" Axel asked again.

Marluxia rolled his eyes.

"Fine fine, I'm done. Grow big little one."

Marluxia gave one last pet, and followed after the already gone Axel.

"Was there a point in bringing him to life?" Axel asked.

"He'll be able to take better care of himself that way." Marluxia answered.

"It's a plant, who cares?"

"I do!"

The Fly Trap watched as his pink haired friend left with the friendly sandy blonde one, and the cranky red headed one. The bushes around the Fly Trap started to rustle, and it looked towards them. As it did, a large shadow loomed over it, and a shovel was stuck into the ground. It dug under the Fly Trap, and pulled it up, roots and all. The shovel deposited the Fly Trap into a flower pot, and a plastic dome cover was put over it. The Fly Trap looked around worriedly as the pot was lifted, and it was taken away from it's home.

* * *

><p>"The plants here are very well nourished." Marluxia said as he looked out across the green of the lagoon.<p>

"That's great, let's go." Axel said, grabbing Marluxia by his arm and dragging him away from the lagoon.

"Would it kill you to appreciate the scenery?" Marluxia asked with annoyance.

"No, I'd probably kill it." Axel answered.

"We haven't seen anything suspicious have we?" Demyx asked as he followed them.

"Only plants coming to life." Axel said.

"That's not suspicious." Marluxia said.

"You're right, it's witchcraft."

"It's not witchcraft, it's a miracle!"

"That's debatable."

The three continued through the Jungle, green being the only color they see. It was getting sickening, and they were growing tired of walking around and not finding any reason for them to have gone there in the first place.

"This is pointless." Demyx whined as they stopped next to a small pond. "Was X-face just trying to get rid of us?"

"It'd be no surprise if he did." Axel huffed.

"He chose a nice place to get rid of us." Marluxia said.

"No he didn't." Axel said as he leaned against a crooked, moss covered tree.

"Do we continue searching, or do we just give up and leave?" Demyx asked as he leaned against Axel.

"We don't have to leave so soon." Marluxia stated. "We haven't cheeked the entire world."

"You never cared about the mission in the first place! All you cared about were your dumb flowers!" Axel said.

"No I didn't."

Marluxia snapped his fingers, and a vine came down from one of the trees above him, made a U-turn, and went back up into the trees. Marluxia sat down in the U that the vine formed, and swung leisurely.

"Though they were somewhat of a distraction." he continued. "But this place holds a wide variety of plants, like the Fly Trap."

"You're lucky I didn't torch that thing." Axel hissed.

"If you did, I would have turned you into a bush." Marluxia calmly said as he idly swung.

"I'd like to see you try." Axel scoffed.

"Are you tempting me?" Marluxia asked.

The grass around the pond started to grow, and pointed directly at Axel.

"Go ahead and try. I can easily burn my way out."

"Wait a minute!"

Demyx stepped away from Axel, and stood in between them.

"Can you guys not fight now? We're still on a mission."

"_I'm_ on the mission, but I don't know about him." Axel said.

"If you don't like the way I do my job, you can explore your own way." Marluxia said.

"If it keeps me away from your flower highs, I'm fine with it." Axel said.

"Very well. We'll explore our own ways, and combine notes later." Marluxia said.

He got off his swing, and stood in front of Demyx.

"Right Demyx?"

"No way!" Axel said.

He left his tree and quickly wrapped his arms around Demyx, and pulled him away from Marluxia.

"He's coming with me."

"Axel." Demyx whined.

He tried to pull the arms around him off, but his arms were pinned to his side.

"You didn't give him a chance to choose." Marluxia said.

"He doesn't have to." Axel firmly said.

"Axel." Demyx whined again.

"You're just afraid that he won't choose to go with you." Marluxia said.

"No."

"You're just being child-"

A splash from the pond next to them cut Marluxia off. From the pond, an arrow head had shot out with a bulky rope attached to it. It aimed right at Marluxia, and swirled around him with great velocity.

"What is this-Ah!"

The end of the rope was pulled back into the water, dragging Marluxia with it. As quickly as it came, it left with a big splash as Marluxia was pulled into the pond.

"Marly!" Demyx shouted as Marluxia disappeared into the pond.

"What just happened!" Axel asked.

"I don't know!"

Demyx wanted to get closer to the pond, but he was still being held by Axel.

"Axel let me go. I have to see where Marly went."

"I'm not letting you get near there! Whatever took Marly could take you!" Axel said.

"Axel if you don't let me go we could lose Marly!"

Demyx tilted his head back to look at Axel straight in the face. His calm sea-blue eyes now had a spark of seriousness, and determination.

"Trust me Axel, I'll be fine." Demyx calmly said.

Axel couldn't deny Demyx when he looked at him this way. With reluctant movements, he released his hold on Demyx, and Demyx rushed to the pond's edge. With expert skills, he dived into the pond

The water crashed against his body, and the bubbles created by the impact tickled his face. Once the water had calmed around him, Demyx opened his eyes. As his eyes adapted to the blurry water world, he noticed that the appearance of the top of the pond was very misleading. The pond was actually quite wide, and it was more tunnel like.

When his eyes were well adjusted, he followed the length of the pond tunnel. The tunnel went down for a short distance, then curved as it continued into a thick dirt wall. There wasn't very much light in the deeper part of the tunnel, and Demyx was hesitant to continue. But he had to if he wanted to find Marluxia. He continued several feet into the dirt wall, until he reached a dead end.

Demyx looked around baffled. If this was where the pond ended, then where did Marluxia go? He conscientiously reached for the wall that ended the tunnel, and was surprised to not feel dirt, but cold metal. He tilted his head, and reached out his other hand. It was a metal wall. His hands wandered over the metal, till he felt a raised part. He traced it with the tips of his fingers, and could make out a leaf. This was very odd. Deciding he couldn't find anymore information, he swam out of the wall, and resurfaced.

"What happened!" Axel asked as he ran over to the pond when Demyx came back up.

"It's a tunnel." Demyx informed as he kicked to stay surfaced. "And it leads to a metal door."

"A metal door?" Axel asked, and offered a hand to pull Demyx out.

"It has a leaf emblem on it, sort of like an oak leaf." Demyx said, and took the hand.

"And Marly?" Axel hoisted Demyx out.

"He must be on the other side of the wall, there's nowhere else he could've gone."

"And how do you suppose we get behind it?"

"I don't know."

Demyx shook his head, letting droplets of water fly all over.

"Watch it." Axel said as he shielded his face with his arm.

"Sorry." Demyx said.

His hair was no longer it's gravity defying mullet, but a jumble of soaked hair that clung to his face.

"Maybe's there's another way in?" he suggested as he wrung out his hair.

"Like what? Another water source?" Axel asked.

"The lagoon!" Demyx gasped.

"You're gonna go diving in a lagoon?"

"If it helps find Marly yes! Which way was it?"

"Back the way we came."

"Come on!"

Demyx rushed back the way they had come, not bothering to fix his hair since he knew he had to take another dive.

* * *

><p>Demyx scanned the length and width of the lagoon, and took a guess at how deep it was.<p>

"Are you going to be okay?" Axel asked.

"If anyone can survive an underwater attack, it's me." Demyx said. "And you know I can hold my breath for a long time."

"I know. Just be cautious." Axel said.

"I can take care of myself." Demyx reassured, and dove into the water.

The lagoon was more murky than the pond, and the bottom was hidden by algae. Demyx started his search by slowly swimming the length of the lagoon. It was hard to see the bottom, so he decided to dive deeper to get a better look. The deeper he went, the harder the pressure on his body became, but it didn't bother him.

He dove deeper and deeper until his hands brushed the algae covered bottom. He looked around, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. A small school of fish swam past him, and the oval shadow of a hippo glided over him. This was getting him no where.

He continued swimming the length of the lagoon, but turned up nothing. He swam up a little higher, thinking he might've been to low. As he swam up, a small glitter of grey hit his eyes. He looked towards the glitter, and could see a bulky shape in the distance. He swam towards it, curious to what it could be. As he got closer to it, the bulky shape gained the appearance of a dome. He floated over it, slightly confused, but then, his eyes widened in surprise. The same oak leaf emblem he had felt on the metal wall, was engraved on top of the dome.

He swam down to the dome, and swam around it, taking in every detail. He passed by a convex window, and he peered into it. Inside the dome, there were people. People dressed in lab coats who were observing different varieties of plants.

"_Plants?"_ Demyx thought. _"Are these guys studying plants? Are these guys the suspicious activity the mission described?"  
><em>

He was about to swim away, when he noticed a familiar pink head.

Marluxia was being pulled through the lab by several botanists with the same rope he had been captured with. He was putting up a good fight to get free from the botanists, but his arms being restricted were causing him problems. A bald botanist waved frantically, and a brown headed botanist answered his call by running over with a brown bottle, and a cloth. The bald botanist took the items from the other, and poured some of the bottle's contents onto the cloth. He made to shove the cloth into Marluxia's face, but Marluxia kept moving his head to avoid the hand. But the botanist eventually won the struggle, and shoved the cloth over Marluxia's mouth and nose. Marluxia tried to pull away from the cloth, but his eyes suddenly started to sag, and he collapsed. The botanists now had an easier time dragging the unconscious Marluxia through the lab.

"_Marly!"_ Demyx mentally shouted.

With great speed that would make an Olympic swimmer jealous, Demyx swam away from the dome, and resurfaced where he had dove in.

"They have him!" Demyx shouted as he broke through surface.

"Who has who?" Axel asked.

"Botanists! At the bottom! In a giant dome! They have him!" Demyx spilled out as he crawled out of the water.

"Huh?" Axel asked.

"Botanists at the bottom of the lake have Marly!" Demyx shouted in one breath.

"Are you sure?"

"I saw him myself! They were dragging him through the lab!"

"Did you find a way in?"

"No! I was to preoccupied with seeing my friend being treated like an animal!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"I'm not yelling! We need to get him out of there!"

"How do you expect to do that! We're not scientists that can just blend in with them!"

"Scientists!" Demyx shouted as an idea sparked in his brain.

He turned around and opened a dark portal.

"Demyx what are you thinking-Whoa!"

"No time to explain!" Demyx said as he grabbed Axel's arm and pulled him through the dark portal.

* * *

><p>AN: Poor Marly, he's been captured by botantists, and rude ones too. I had a bit of trouble writing the part about the Venus Fly Trap. It actually took me three tries before I got it right. Glad I finally did.<p>

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.


	3. Scientist's Apprentice

"Vexen! Vexen we need your help!" Demyx shouted desperately outside of Vexen's room. "Vexen please."

"I'm not a doctor!" Vexen shouted back.

"That's not what we need you for! It's more important than that!" Demyx said.

Vexen pulled open his door, and glared viciously at Axel and Demyx.

"What now?" Vexen asked.

"Marly's been kidnapped by botanists!" Demyx shouted. Vexen arched an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Marly's been kidnapped by bot-mph." Demyx was muffled by two hands covering his mouth.

"Stop yelling." Axel said.

"Aphel!" Demyx said through the hands.

"What is he yelling so much about?" Vexen asked.

"During our mission in Deep Jungle, Marly was kidnapped." Axel said as he struggled against Demyx to keep his hands over his mouth.

"If Eleven was abducted, report it to Seven. I have no purpose in helping to find the lost." Vexen started to close his door.

"Wait!"

Vexen paused, and reopened his door.

"Vexen, there's a reason we came to see you." Demyx said. Demyx had pried the hands off his mouth, and was holding them above his head. "Marly wasn't kidnapped by just anybody."

"Explain." Vexen said, slightly intrigued.

"Marly was kidnapped by botanist, as I've mentioned before, and you're the only one that can help us."

"How so?" Vexen asked. He was becoming amused by Demyx's needy expression, and Axel's gauche posture.

"Well, you are a scientist." Demyx said.

"As you've gone crazy in trying to get across." Axel added.

"Anyway, we were wondering if,"

"He was wondering."

"We were wondering if, you could help us, sneak into the botanist's lab, to save Marly?"

Demyx lowered his hands, and Axel pulled his back. Vexen looked from one, to the other.

"What an interesting situation this has turned into, but I still see no reason why I should help." Vexen said.

"But Vexen." Demyx said.

"I knew this was a useless attempt." Axel huffed.

"If that's all you're here for, leave, and allow me to return to my experiments."

"If you help us we promise to do anything you say!" Demyx said before Vexen could move.

"Demyx!" Axel said in surprise.

"We'll follow your orders directly! And we won't argue about them either!" Demyx continued.

"Stop it!" Axel clapped his hands over Demyx's mouth again.

"Complete dominance hm? That's a very tempting offer." Vexen tapped his chin, and grinned mockingly at Axel. Axel glared back, competing with his grin. "It's to good an opportunity to let pass. Go to my larger lab in the basement, I will be there shortly." Vexen shut his door, and left Axel and Demyx out in the hall.

"What were you thinking!" Axel questioned.

"Hare vas o uger gway." Demyx said behind Axel's hands.

"What?"

Axel removed his hands, and Demyx took a deep breath.

"I said," Demyx said. "that there was no other way. He wouldn't help us if we didn't offer him something he'd want."

"But did it have to be complete control over us!" Axel asked.

"I couldn't think f anything else." Demyx said, and ran a hand through his flat hair.

"Perfect. Just perfect. Not only do I hate him, but now he has complete control over us!"

"Do you hate Marly?" Demyx calmly asked. Axel paused his rampage, and crossed his arms.

"No." he murmured.

"Then you can tolerate Vexen long enough to save Marly. Do you think you can do that, or are you going to back down?" Demyx asked with a stern look.

"I'm not going to run away."

"Then suck it up, and let's go to the lab." Demyx said, and walked past Axel. Axel groaned, and followed Demyx.

* * *

><p>Vexen's other lab was much larger than the one in his room. For one thing, it took up the largest room on the basement floor, which was half of the entire floor. He had multiple silver colored tables spread around the lab. They were all littered with scattered papers, empty beakers, full beakers, burners, various objects floating in unknown substances, and dozens of test tubes. A large wheeling chalkboard in the center was filled with equations of many sorts, and on the other side was an intricate sketch of a heart with a list of all of its functions. A true mad scientists lab, up to the bolted shut door. So Axel and Demyx had to wait outside for Vexen to come.<p>

"What is taking him so long?" Axel complained after 20 minutes of standing around.

"He was probably working on something when we disturbed him." Demyx answered.

"He had better hurry."

As if on command, a dark portal opened in front of them, and Vexen stepped out, carrying a large cardboard box.

"Excellent. You two _are_ set on following your side of the deal." Vexen said.

Axel was about to say his remark, but Demyx beat him to it.

"What's in the box?" he asked.

"I'll show you once we enter the lab." Vexen replied.

"And how do you plan on getting us in? it's sealed shut." Axel said.

"Heh. As if I wouldn't be able to get into my own lab. I'm the one who made this door. Observe."

Vexen approached his door, and placed a hand against it. The air around Vexen suddenly became colder, cold enough to see your breath.

"What are you doing?" Demyx asked as he stepped closer to Axel, being weak to the cold.

Vexen didn't answer as a thin layer of ice started to grow from under his hand. It spread out over the enormous metal door, until it was completely covered.

"What now?" Axel asked.

"One last step." Vexen answered.

He knocked four times on the same place he had placed his hand, and the ice started to crack. But it didn't crack up the center of the door, but into a rectangle about the height of Vexen.

"There, now we can enter." Vexen pushed the cut out rectangle, and it swung into the room.

"How did you do that?" Demyx asked as he observed the door within the door.

"This entire door is made of my strongest concentration of ice, hidden behind a false cover. Only I can carve through it. Not even Eight's fire can go through it." Vexen proudly said. "Now come, we have many things to go over. Nine, I suggest you stay close to Eight. It's quite cold in my lab, and I do not need you freezing." Vexen finished, and entered his lab.

"I bet I could burn through it." Axel said.

"Later, right now we have to hear what Vexen wants us to do." Demyx said, and clung to Axel's arm. "You're so warm."

"Just don't go freezing on me." Axel said, and lead Demyx into Vexen's lab.

It really was cold in the lab, almost like a giant freezer, but none of the equipment seemed to be fazed by it. Vexen and Axel weren't affected for obvious reasons, but Demyx had to cling tighter to Axel to stop himself from shaking. Vexen cleared a spot on a nearby table, and plopped the box down.

"I have your uniforms in here." Vexen said as he flipped up the box's flaps.

"Uniform? What uniform?" Axel asked.

"Lab coats, gloves, glasses. You don't expect to sneak into a lab looking like that do you? Completely absurd." Vexen said. He pulled out two white lab coats, and handed them to Axel and Demyx. "Put these on. I need to see what else must be done to add an appearance of intelligence."

Axel was about to say something as his rebuttal, but thought better against it.

"Demyx, you mind?" Axel asked, gesturing to his arm.

"I…I do, but…I'll let go." Demyx said through chattering teeth.

He let go of Axel's arm, and hugged himself to preserve any heat. Axel took the coats from Vexen, and handed one the Demyx, who took it with shaking hands. The coat fit snuggly on Demyx, hiding his cloak underneath perfectly, as for Axel…it was to short in the length, and too wide in the width.

"Hmm, you're thinner than I thought." Vexen said.

"Axel…h-have you been…eating?" Demyx asked.

"I have Demyx, I just burn calories faster than everyone. I'm not starving myself." Axel said.

"No worries, I have another." Vexen said, and handed Axel another coat.

Axel shrugged out of the coat, and replaced it with the new one. The length and width in this one were better, but the sleeves were still a bit long.

"What do I do about this?" Axel asked as he waved a sleeve covered hand.

"Roll up the sleeves. Now, about your hair." Vexen said.

"What about my hair?" Axel asked as he rolled up his sleeves.

"It's not correct. Nine's flat style fit's the scientist role much better than his original, but yours gives the appearance of negligence. Unacceptable." Vexen said.

"And what do you expect me to do?"

"Imitate Nine of course."

"I am not drenching my head."

"Though that would be more entertaining, you don't have to go to that extreme. Water can't easily flow in this room after all. Hence Nine's reaction." Vexen said as he looked over Demyx, who was now shivering uncontrollably.

"Come here." Axel said as he wrapped his arms around Demyx.

"Th-thank you." Demyx said as he nuzzled closer to Axel's warm body, calming down his shivers.

"Nine, could you conjure any form of water in that position?" Vexen asked.

"Um, I'll try." Demyx said.

He held up a hand, and concentrated fully on it. With a great amount of effort, a small orb of water appeared over it. Tiny ice crystals were forming inside it, but it remained in a liquid state.

"Interesting. Now, use what you learned in that procedure to come up with a way to dowse your hair while I return." Vexen said, and strode past them.

"Where are you going?" Axel asked.

"I have one more matter to take care of. Use what's in the box to add to your disguise. I shall return shortly." Vexen replied as he walked out his lab.

"Hey wait!" Axel said as he let go of Demyx to rush after Vexen to further question him.

"A-A-Axel." Demyx said as he started to shake again from loosing his heat source.

"Sorry Demy, I-what happened to your hand?" Axel asked.

When he had left Demyx, the orb of water he had brought up, had frozen across his hand.

"I…can't feel it." Demyx said as he looked over his frozen hand.

"Sorry Demyx. Let me see it." Axel said, and took Demyx's hand.

He held Demyx's hand sandwiched between his, and the ice slowly started to melt, and drip to the floor, then freeze once again.

"There, better?"

Demyx took back his hand, and inspected it. His fingers were stiff, but his hand hadn't gone numb, so he was fine.

"Yeah. Thanks." Demyx said, and hugged himself once again.

"We need to get you out of here." Axel said, and hugged Demyx.

"But Vexen told us to stay here and work on our disguise." Demyx said. "And we promised him that we'd do what he wanted without complaint."

"You follow rules to much, but fine, we'll stay."

"How are we going to flatten your hair?"

"We aren't. It's going to stay up, no matter what Vexen says."

"B-but I have an idea."

"You do?"

Demyx nodded, and held up his hand again. He formed another water bubble, and pushed away from Axel. Almost instantly, the water froze across his hand again.

"Demyx!" Axel said, and reached for Demyx's hand.

"Wait, it's my idea." Demyx said as he held his hand away from Axel. "Come on." Demyx walked to the pulled out stool next to the box, and sat down. "Come on." Demyx repeated as he started to shake again.

"What do you want me to do?" Axel asked as he walked up to Demyx.

"Sit." Demyx said, pointing in front of him.

"Demyx, your hand."

"It'll be fine once you sit."

"Alright." Axel sighed as he sat in front of Demyx. "What are you going to doooo."

Axel felt something cold be placed on top of his head, and follow the length of his spikes.

"Demyx, what are you doing?" Axel asked.

"Thawing my hand." Demyx replied as he replaced his hand on Axel's head.

With each touch to the Flurry's red hair, the ice would shrink, and moisten his hair. Once the ice was completely gone, his hair had lost its amazing volume.

"What did you do?" Axel asked as he gazed at the red locks that hung over his face.

"One last thing." Demyx said.

Demyx reached into the box, and removed the rubber band that was holding together several loose gloves. His cold hands brushed against Axel's face as he pulled back his hair, and wound the rubber band around it.

"There, done."

Axel reached behind his neck, and tugged lightly on the low tied ponytail.

"Don't you think this is a bit, feminine?" Axel asked.

"Y-your h-h-hair won't g-get in the way." Demyx said.

"Heh. Didn't realize my hair was this long."

"I-I-it l-l-l-looks f-f-fine."

"Okay, enough about me, you're freezing." Axel said as he stood up.

"Kind of." Demyx muttered through shivering, blue lips.

He slumped forward into Axel's open arms, finding his radiant heat very soothing.

"You're so warm." he whispered.

"I would hope so. Fire, remember?" Axel said. Demyx nodded, and wrapped his arms around Axel, wanting to claim more heat. "What else does Vexen have in here?" He looked into the box, and something blue caught his attention. "Hmm?" He reached in, and pulled out a pair of dark blue costume glasses. "Hey Demyx."

"Yeah?" Demyx said.

"Lift your head for a sec."

"Huh?"

Demyx looked up at Axel, and was surprised by the lenses that were pushed onto his face.

"There, now you look more mature." Axel said.

"Huh?"

Demyx reached up, and played with the nosepiece that was resting on the bridge of his nose, and the legs that hung over his ears.

"Glasses? You sure?" he asked.

"Vexen said to use what was in the box, and it adds a more sophisticated look to you." Axel said.

"Is there anything else in there?" Demyx asked.

"Um, nothing else of much use." Axel said as he rifled through the box. "Except these." Axel pulled out another pair of costume glasses similar to Demyx's, but these were grey. "What do you think?" Axel asked as he slipped on the glasses.

"It looks good." Demyx said. "It makes you look older."

"It had better not be as old as Vexen."

"That'd be frightening."

"Seriously."

"I see you've managed to fix your hair Eight, hopefully you can manage to continue to follow orders." Vexen said from behind Axel.

"Thank you for your encouragement Vexen, it's really useful." Axel sarcastically said.

"He's right Four, you gave him to much credit. Far more than he deserves." a new voice said

"Zexion?" Demyx said as he looked around Axel.

"Zexion?" Axel said as he craned his head over his shoulder to look behind him.

Sure enough, Zexion was standing next to Vexen at the entrance of the lab, also dressed in a lab coat.

"Greetings Nine. Eight." Zexion said.

"What's he doing here?" Axel asked.

"Six will be joining us on the rescue." Vexen informed.

"Why!" Axel asked.

"Two reasons: one, to have another intelligent mind set on figuring out how to rescue Eleven, and two, to make sure you two follow your side of the deal." Vexen explained. "Which means that you must also do as he says."

"I look forward to working with you." Zexion said with a grin.

"No." Axel said.

"Then I hope you enjoy trying to get Eleven out on your own." Vexen said.

"Axel." Demyx said.

Axel looked down to say something to Demyx, but froze when he saw his sad, pale face. Axel sighed, and looked back at Vexen and Zexion.

"Fine." he dejectedly said.

"Excellent. Where did you say Eleven was taken?" Vexen asked as he took a lab coat from a nearby closet, and tugged it on.

"Deep Jungle." Axel answered.

"Not very good at staying inconspicuous if he can get easily captured by humans, is he?" Zexion said.

"We didn't expect to run into anyone." Axel said.

"You must always be on your guard Eight." Zexion said.

"Listen you-"

"Arguments later, mission now." Vexen directed at Axel.

"But he-"

"Now." Vexen said, and opened a dark portal. He stepped through it, followed by a calm Zexion.

"We had better be successful. I am not going to put up with the both of them for nothing." Axel said.

"We will Axel, we just have to." Demyx said as he continued holding onto Axel as they entered the dark portal

* * *

><p>AN: And after a few arguments, some costume work, and nearly freezing to death, the rescue party for Marluxia is set. Also:<p>

Demyx+Flat Hair+Glasses=Adorable

And

Axel+Low Ponytail+Glasses=Hot

Who else agrees with this?


	4. Blending In

AN: Before you start reading, I should warn you that there is some Spanish in this fic. I tried my best to translate what they were saying without being to obvious, but you can translate on your own if you want.

* * *

><p>The lagoon water was still, and the Jungle was quiet. The hippos were missing, as was any other source of life. The ruffling of the leaves on the gentle breeze was the only sound that resonated through the Jungle.<p>

Axel kicked a small rock into the lagoon, and gazed at the ripples. He crossed his arms, and turned back to Vexen, Zexion, and Demyx, who were standing behind him.

"Now what do we do?" Axel asked. "The lab's under the lagoon."

"I could take us down." Demyx suggested. "Though, I'm not sure how to get in the lab."

"Getting stuck underwater is not what I came here for." Axel said. "What about you two?" He pointed at Vexen and Zexion. "You two are the so called brains of this mission. How do we get down?"

"As if we'd come here without having done research first." Vexen said. "Observe."

Vexen walked to a rock that was slightly emerged in the lagoon. He kicked it three times in a triangle shape, and the top popped open like a chest. Revealed in the top was a number pad.

"Six, do you have the code?"

"Of course." Zexion said. "I did my share of research too."

He reached into his sleeve, and pulled out a square piece of paper. He handed it to Vexen,, who quickly scanned it, and gave it back.

"Ironic code." Vexen mumbled.

He bent over the rock, and dialed in four numbers: 9-8-1-1. He snapped the top of the rock down, and straightened up. The ground underneath the four started to shake. Not violently, more like the rocking of a boat. Axel and Demyx looked down, then snapped their heads up as the ripping of the water's surface took away the attention of the shaking.

From beneath the water's surface, an enormous, grey, half moon shape arose. It stood in the middle of the lagoon as streams of water flowed down its curves, before it started to glide towards them. The half moon swam on an invisible straight path through the water's surface, bringing forth small waves around it that disappeared before they made it to the brink. With a chugging speed, the half moon finally made it to the edge of the lagoon, climbing slightly on to it. It settled with a hiss, and the water around it calmed.

"What is this thing?" Axel asked.

"Our ride." Vexen answered.

At that, the unnoticeable doors of the half moon slid open, and exposed the eggshell white interior.

"This way." Vexen said, leading the way into the half moon, followed by Axel and Demyx with Zexion bringing up the rear. Once inside, the doors slid shut, and the half moon started to dive.

"How did you know about this thing?" Axel asked as the water crashed around them.

"I learned of its existence before we came here." Vexen answered.

"When was that?" Demyx asked.

"When I went to ask Six to join us."

"But that wasn't even five minutes. How could you have found out about it in such a short interval of time?" Axel asked.

"I, am a scientist." is all Vexen said. "Now, there are some things I must explain."

"Like?" Demyx asked.

"One, try and sound intelligent. Engage in conversations, ask questions, things like that." Vexen said.

"Two," Zexion said. "Listen to what we say. We-"

"I know, I know. Continue." Axel said.

"Three," Vexen continued. "Do not use your abilities. We cannot risk having another member of the Organization being captured by Humans. We already have one too many."

Vexen glanced at Axel and Demyx, but his glance lasted longer on Axel.

"What are you trying to say?" Axel asked, noticing Vexen's lingering stare.

"We are nearly there." Vexen said, turning his back to Axel to look out the small, rectangular window.

The large dome that Demyx had swum to before was now fast approaching.

"Six, do you have what I asked for?" Vexen asked, facing Zexion.

"I do." Zexion answered.

He reached into the inner pocket of his coat, and pulled out four laminated rectangles that each had a metal clip attached to them. He gave one each to them, and kept one for himself.

"What is this?" Demyx asked, flipping the light green and white card in his hand.

The white streak in the middle of the green had a name written in black, block letters, followed by the maple leaf symbol.

"Jinsoku Shinsui?" Demyx asked.

"That is your alias." Zexion said. "While in this lab, you will be addressed as such. Eight will be known as Mori Kaji, Four as Kanrei Katabu, and myself as Genjitsu Genso. Remember to answer to that name, or they may discover we are imposters."

"A fake I.D is cool and everything, but what if they don't believe we're botanists?" Axel asked as he clipped his I.D onto his left breast pocket. "What if they have a list of all the botanists?"

"I assure you Eight, our alias' are not fictional." Zexion said. "The names are of real botanists who were asked to come here, but refused. I was able to intercept their reply, and switch it to say that they will come."

"When did you do that?" Axel asked.

"After Four asked me to join you." Zexion answered.

"But… how did you and Vexen find out any information about this place and who works here in that short amount of time? And when did you make these?" Axel pointed to the I.D.

"I obtained them from the package the other botanists were sending back." Zexion said.

"What package!"

"Silence." Vexen said. "The sub is slowing, we will soon be at the lab."

Following the invisible path, the half moon tank curved around the dome, and slid in to an opening that had just opened before them. It grew dark in the tank, accompanied by the sound of the opening sliding shut, and the rush of draining water. The tank continued on a horizontal trail until it clicked into place, and hissed in relief.

"Stand up straight. Make yourself look presentable." Vexen whispered.

The four of them lined up; Vexen on the far left, Axel next to him, Demyx, then Zexion. A red light blinked above the doors, and they opened, allowing access into the captor's lair.

Five times the size of Vexen's larger lab, and was split into three floors. One wonders how something of this magnitude could have been built underwater, much less how it could have remained unnoticed. It had the classic grey lab color, the only color came from the different types of plants that were being observed all across the lab.

It could have been considered a colony of ants, what with the incredible number of botanists. Very diverse in appearances, height, weight, ethnicity, race, and so on. All had on a white lab coat, and their I.D pinned on.

All eyes turned as Vexen, Zexion, Axel, and Demyx stepped in to the lab. The unblinking stares made Axel feel awkward and Demyx uncomfortable, but they held their ground. They showed no hint of distress, and stood in silence.

"They're staring at us." Axel whispered to Vexen, still looking straight ahead.

"We are new to the lab, they don't know what we are here for." Vexen whispered back.

"Shouldn't we let them know who we are then?" Demyx asked.

"No." Vexen replied. "We have to wait till we are acknowledged."

"By who?" Axel questioned, risking a glance at Vexen.

"Finally! You have arrived!" a rough voice boomed from amongst the colony.

"By him." Vexen said.

Shoving his way through the colony, a short, pudgy man emerged. His rounded face matched his equally chubby nose where the brim of his black, thick framed glassed was hidden. His brown eyes were too small for his face, and his glasses to big. His black hair was thinning at the top, but remained full and bushy at the sides. He had a large smile that spread from ear to ear as he fast approached the.

"It took you long enough to get here." the botanist said, stopping in front of them. "It took you forever."

He seemed to have some type of accent due to the way he rolled his R's.

"Now, where is Señor Katabu?" he asked.

"That would be me." Vexen said. "Thank you for inviting us to your lab Professor Erb."

He held out his hand, which Erb took and shook up and down quickly. He was about two heads shorter than Vexen.

"You four took so long to get here, I thought you had ignored my invitation." Erb said.

"Why would we do that?" Vexen asked, putting on a dumbfounded act. "I wouldn't dream of missing the opportunity to work at such an elaborate lab."

"Ah yes." Erb said, releasing Vexen's hand and turning to gaze at the lab behind him. "Five long years of building this lab. The ultimate and most largely networked Botanist lab in the world. From what I've seen anyway. But you try hiding such a large establishment under water, much less building it."

"I couldn't agree more." Vexen said. "Allow me to introduce the rest of my colleagues My assistant, Genso." He gestured to Zexion. "His apprentice, Shinsui." He gestured to Demyx. "And my apprentice, Kaji." He gestured to Axel.

"Oh, I would like you to meet my assistant." Erb said. "Canell!" he called into the colony. "Señor Canell! Donde estas!' he asked with a with a perfect Spanish tongue. He sighed, and turned back to the four. "He's around here somewhere. Come, let me show you around my lab, Hoja Mágica."

He walked ahead, back into the colony.

"Was he speaking Spanish?" Axel asked Vexen.

"Yes." Vexen answered. "He's a Hispanic botanist who made his name in the forests of Guatemala."

"Ven ven! Come come!." Erb called to them.

"Don't touch anything." Vexen said, leading the group in to the colony.

Erb talked with great pride as he pointed out the many sections that made up his lab. He explained that some of the plant life his fellow botanists were observing were weeds that the animals in the forest gnawed on when sick. The botanists are curious of how these average looking weeds could heal a living creature. The rest of the foliage were just going through routine observations: checking stem height, leaf tint, pollen production, reaction to temperature change, and lifespan.

They moved out of the front of the lab, to a hallway on the left where they passed several, medium sized rooms. Erb was able to explain what was going on in every room since the entrances were sliding glass doors, and allowed everything on the inside to be seen. He paused outside one of the rooms where three silver tables were lined up, and several botanists hovered over three large black flowers. Erb explained that they had found the flowers in the treetops, and at first, thought that they were dead. They took samples to try and figure out what could have caused the death of the flowers, but in a weeks time, the flowers turned brown. They figured that the plants were indeed alive, and the black was their natural color, but they had a new problem. The flower was closed, and they couldn't get it open to see what lay hidden on the inside. They had tried every method they could come up with for about a month, but to no avail. Erb shrugged, sighed, but retained his smile. He stated that they would work for as many years as it takes, just to get the chance to see what mysteries lay inside the flower.

Erb continued his tour, and stopped at the end of the hall. There were two staircases diagonal from each other, one's entrance was a cut out in the black and white tile floor leading to the lower level, and the other's entrance was on the opposite wall, leading to the upper level. Erb pointed at the staircase in the floor, and said it lead to the Green Room where they stored the plants they weren't studying that day. He pointed to the stairs in the wall, and said he had many more things to show them.

The top floor wasn't much different than the lower floor, but there was one difference. The door that marked the center of the hall was not a clear glass, but a grey metal. It blended in so well with the equally grey wall, that it wasn't until Demyx noticed the crack created by the two doors closed together. Demyx slowed as the hidden door caught his attention until he stopped completely.

"What are you doing Shinsui?" Zexion asked, stopping next to Demyx. He was at the end of the group, so he was the only one who noticed Demyx lagging behind.

"There's a door here." Demyx said, pointing at the hidden door.

Zexion leaned closer to the wall until he could also see the crack in between the two doors.

"Hmm? Professor Erb?" Zexion called out.

"Si Señor Genso?" Erb asked, stopping and turning to Zexion and Demyx.

Axel was confused by why Zexion and Demyx were standing by the wall, but Vexen was curious about what could have caught his assistant's attention.

"What's behind this door? I don't believe you mentioned it as we walked by." Zexion said.

The smile on Erb's face dropped to a straight line.

"Ah yes." Erb said, pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose. "In due time, I will show you what is in there, but for now, let it be only a minor annoyance in the back of your mind. Now then, shall we continue?"

The smile on his face returned and waved for them to follow. Assuming they couldn't get any more information out of him, Demyx and Zexion were about to rejoin the group, when the doors to the hidden room slid open.

A tall, thin, tan man stepped out of the room. His shoulder length honey hair hung dead straight around his face, and his grass green eyes scanned quickly over the white clipboard he was holding. He was completely oblivious to everyone around him, until Erb called out.

"Ah! Canell! So this is where you have been!"

"Huh?"

Canell looked up from his clipboard, and noticed, for the first time, those who were around him. He looked over the new faces until he spotted a familiar one.

"Oh, Professor Erb, good afternoon." he said. His voice was soft, and a deeper pitch than Erb's. "And who are these new faces?"

"The botanists I asked to join us." Erb said. "They have finally arrived. This here is Señor Katabu, Señor Kaji, Señor Genso, and Señor Shinsui." He pointed as he named off everyone. "And this," He held his hand out towards Canell. "is my most trusted assistant, Señor Canell."

"So glad that you could make it, and I don't mean to cut our greetings short, but Professor Erb, I must tell you of our latest finding." Canell said.

Erb's smile dropped again, and his eyebrows lowered.

"I see. Ven. If you'll excuse me, this shall only take a minute." Erb said.

"Of course." Vexen said.

"Gracias." Erb said. "Ven." he said to Canell.

Erb and Canell walked a little ways down the hall. They were still within earshot, but it's not like they could understand what they were saying.

"Que pasa?" Erb asked.

"Nada nuevo." Canell replied. "Todavia no sabemos como el puede hacer eso, pedo encontramos otra cosa."

"Si? Que? Que?" Erb stood on his toes, his eyes opened wide.

"Calmate." Canell said, pushing Erb down by his shoulders. "Cuando estamos solos."

He glanced at Vexen, Zexion, Axel, and Demyx. Erb looked over at them too, and nodded.

"Bueno, despues." Erb said. "Come my friends." he called out to the four. "I have much more to show you."

He walked away from them, and paused a few doors down, waiting for them.

"He's hiding something." Demyx said.

"We'll find out later Shinsui." Vexen said, and joined Erb.

"He's hiding something, I know it." Demyx said to Axel.

"Forget about it, we're not here to learn about any project they may be hiding. We're here for Marly." Axel said.

"But-"

"Shinsui, Kaji!" Zexion called, interrupting Demyx.

Axel rolled his eyes, and followed. Demyx spared one last glance at the door, and joined them as well. He wasn't going to forget about the door so easily.

Erb continued the tour of the lab, but only Vexen and Zexion were paying attention. Axel was bored out of his mind, and Demyx was zoned out, his thoughts continuing to wander back to the secret room. A loud clap brought them back to the real world, and they realized that they were back on the middle floor.

"And that is the lab." Erb said. "Any questions?" He paused momentarily, then continued. "Now then, where would your talents best fit? Ah! That's perfect! Katabu, would you mind joining those who are working on the black flowers?"

"I would be glad to." Vexen said.

"Genso, could you join the moss, fungus, and weed department?" Erb asked.

"Of course." Zexion said.

"Shinsui, your vast knowledge of ecosystems would be most useful in the Green Room."

"Uh, okay, I guess." Demyx said.

"Kaji, um…"

Erb was at a lost with what to do with Kaji. He had learned that Kaji was not as well educated in Botany as the rest, and also does the least amount of work. He didn't think it was as bad as the information led on, but the bored and sleepy look on Kaji's face, and the way he wasn't paying attention during the tour, had him thinking otherwise.

"Um, you can help with the routine checks." Erb said.

"If I must." Axel said. "Ow."

Vexen had nudged Axel in the ribs, obviously unsatisfied with his reply. Though he wanted to react, Axel resisted, since he thought it would be best to stay silent.

"I am so pleased." Erb said, brandishing his smile. "Muchas gracias again. Our research shall be pushed to new levels now that you have joined us. We might even be able to… later, later, in time. I will see you later, I must return to Canell."

"Good luck with your experiments." Vexen said.

"Igualmente, you too." Erb said, and left them.

"Now what?" Axel asked when Erb was gone.

"You heard your assignments." Vexen answered.

"You actually expect us to do work for these guys!" Axel asked.

"We must gain the trust of these Humans in order to find Eleven. Are you saying that you want to abandon him?" Zexion asked.

Again with the question Axel can't argue against.

"No." Axel angrily said.

"Very well." Vexen said. "We will regroup at a later time."

* * *

><p><em>Green, leafy, small, flower, little, purple, closed, boring.<em>

These were the notes Axel was taking while observing the bush they stuck him with. It was about the size of a house cat, and had small, frosting purple flowers on it. He was supposed to be taking detailed notes, but putting a Pyro to watch a plant, isn't the best idea.

"_I hate this." _Axel thought as he poked one of the flowers with his pen, making the pen click open and close.

"Tu!" a foreign tongue shouted at Axel.

"Huh?" He quit his game, and looked up.

"Usted, cone el pelo rojo."

A man about the same height as Demyx, a bald head, and grey beard, walked up to Axel.

"Que estas haciendo? Porque estas aqui padado como un baboso?" the man asked. "Necesitas estar tomando notas, no molestando. Pone atencin a que estas haciendo."

"Um…" Axel didn't understand a word the man was saying, and was equally dumbfounded with what to say.

"Me escuchas? Hola? Estas todavia alle? Porque me estas mirando con esa cade? Contestame estupido!"

"Uh…"

"Nada con ese 'uh', contestame o te voi a reportar al jefe! Me escuchas!"

"Er…"

"Perdon Señor."

"Que?"

"What?"

Demyx walked out of the colony, carrying a watering can. He stood inbetween Axel and the botanist, forming an obtuse triangle.

"Perdon Señor." Demyx repeated. "Pedo, mi amigo no intiende español. Perdonalo."

The man gave a "humph", and crossed his arms.

"Desirle a tu compañero que si quide contuñar estudiando aqui, tiene que hacer algo inves de estando padado alle como una persona que tiene nada en la cabeza. Si es un cientfico, necesita enseñarlo!"

"Le digo. Otra ves, perdon." Demyx said

The man nodded, turned on his heal, and left.

"You can speak Spanish?" Axel asked Demyx.

"Yes." Demyx answered.

"Why didn't you ever mention it to me?"

"I did."

"When?"

"A while ago, remember? You even asked me to teach you."

"I did? Guess it didn't stick."

"I'll start teaching you again later. Anyway, he just said that you need to start doing some actual work, not just standing around clueless."

"It sounded like more."

"He also said that if you don't do anything, you'll be told to leave."

"That's the best news I've heard all day."

"You do realize that if you leave, we'll have one less Nobody searching for Marly, who will take us twice as long to find, and we could be too late when we do find him. Do you want that to happen?"

"Again with that dumb question. Of course I don't want that."

"Then give thinking selfishly a rest, and do what you were assigned to do."

"I will, I will. So what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be downstairs?"

"I was, but then I saw Professor Erb walking out of the Green Room when I went to go fill this." Demyx pointed to the watering can. "I was tempted to fill it myself, but Vexen told us not to."

"Why were you tailing Erb?" Axel asked.

"Because," Demyx said. "I still think that he's hiding something in that room, but I don't know what exactly."

"Let the Human's have their secret, it's not our concern."

"I'm not sure about that, but I'm also not certain if it really doesn't matter. I overheard a bit of what he was mumbling to himself, but I lost him when I saw that guy scolding you."

"Well," Axel reached behind his head to ruffle his hair, like he usually does, but since his spikes were gone, he only touched air. He tugged on his ponytail, and lowered his arm before continuing. "if they are hiding something, you'll be the first one to hear about it."

"I plan to." Demyx said. "I better get back to the Green Room. Do some work."

"Who are you, Saix?"

"No, I'm Demyx."

Demyx chuckled as Axel sighed and shook his head, but Axel had a small smile.

* * *

><p>"Vexen? Hey Vexen?" Axel asked as the glass doors slid open, giving him entrance to the room.<p>

"Has your memory failed you already? My name is Katabu. We are lucky no one else is in here." Vexen said as he looked up from the black bulb he was measuring. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be taking notes on some shrubbery?"

"I was, but nobody was paying attention to what I was doing. I didn't think there was a point of hanging around if my bland notes weren't even going to get a glimpse. It's not like they are going to miss me, I bet they haven't even noticed I'm gone. I'm starting to wonder what kind of reputation this Kaji guy has."

"Mhm."

While Axel was babbling, Vexen had returned his attention to the black bulb, and was probing where the points met at the top.

"Figured this would happen." Axel said.

He left the room and the scientist to his experiment, and walked down the hall. He looked into each room he passed until he saw Zexion's thin back. He entered the room, which was also lacking beating hearts.

"Hey Ze-"

"Genso." Zexion said, not even turning around. "What do you want Kaji?"

He was looking through a magnifying glass at green-blue moss that was clinging to a tree branch, and taking notes on his own white clipboard.

"How did you- never mind."

Sometimes, it is best not to question Zexion how he knows something because, you might end up more freaked out out than if you didn't know.

"Um…"

"I repeat Kaji, what do you want? "Zexion questioned.

"Uh… Do you know where Demyx is?" Axel asked.

"Who?"

Axel frowned.

"Fine. Do you know where Shinsui is?" he rephrased.

"Is your short term memory already affecting you?" Zexion questioned. "Because I believe you, just like Katabu and myself, heard where he was assigned. Am I mistaken?"

"No, I heard where he was supposed to go."

"Then why are you asking? Or has your brain crashed while loading the information?"

"I'm leaving." Axel said.

This conversation was even worse than Vexen's, at least Vexen wasn't paying attention.

Exiting the room, he continued down the hall till he reached the stairs. Taking the one descending into the floor, he stepped on to soft, light green grass.

This Green Room, would make Marluxia both envious, and pleased. The lights they were using to replace the sun, was working way better than it. The foliage all had that shade of green that makes any dedicated gardener proud. All the flowers were open, stretched up towards the lights, their bright colors radiating. The Green Room was even split up into different climates, providing each different life the perfect living environment. Even the more exotic plants were well taken care of. All around the room, the plants beamed with desirable life.

"Damn." Axel said as he looked around. "Marly would die in here."

He walked inwards, hypnotized by all the different colors. He strode by a short, thick trunk tree with such a full canopy, it looked like a larger version of broccoli. A vine fell from the branches of the broccoli tree, and Axel was startled by the wind that brushed past his face.

"Stupid vine." he said.

He was about to leave, when the vine curled back up into the tree, like a yo-yo climbing back up its string.

"That's…not natural." Axel said. He looked up at the leaves, then back down at the trunk. "This place has some weird plants."

Axel continued his search for Demyx, not running in to any more odd plants. The color green was starting to irritate him, so much, that he didn't didn't plan on looking in a mirror for some time, so he wouldn't see his eyes.

The soft crunching of the grass next to him caught his attention. He followed the crunch through some bushes, and in to a clearing. Nothing was there, except for a large, green shrub in the center, about the size of a school bus.

"I swear I heard something." Axel said.

"Heard what?"

"Nya! Demyx don't do that!" Axel shouted, looking next to him.

"Sorry Axel, I didn't mean to scare you." Demyx said. Though he was apologizing, he was smiling, and chuckling lightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you, I'm bored out of my mind." Axel replied.

"Don't you have work you should be doing?" Demyx walked towards the shrub, shifting the full watering can he was carrying from one hand to the other.

"I did have work, but nobody cared if I was doing it or not." Axel said as he followed Demyx. "I think this Kaji guy I got stuck being doesn't have such a good reputation."

"That's too bad." Demyx placed the watering can next to the shrub, and cracked his fingers. "All I've been getting is 'You're exactly what we hoped you'd be'. Guess I match the guy okay." He cracked his elbow three time in succession.

"Have you been watering all day?" Axel asked.

"Yup." Demyx answered, cracking his back. "It's a lot more work then when I water Marly's garden. I can't use my powers here, or I'll get caught." He sighed in relief, and picked up the watering can. "If Marly hadn't been a captive, I bet he would have liked it here."

"I know. I'm really tempted to set these plants a flame. The green is getting on my nerves." Axel said.

"Don't. It'll blow our cover, and we may be captured too. Just resist a little longer, and then you can-"

Demyx couldn't finish his sentence when something wrapped around his waist.

"What is that?" Axel asked.

"I don't know." Demyx replied.

The thick, green vine crawled around his body, holding his arms close to his body, and his legs close together.

"I don't like where this is going!"

The vine tightened around Demyx, and pulled him up. He let go of the watering can and it clattered on the grass.

"Demyx!" Axel shouted.

Axel stepped forward to try and help Demyx, but the shrub where the vine was coming out started to move. The shrub wasn't a shrub after all, but a giant, Venus Fly Trap. It held Demyx in front of it's large, open mouth.

"Hang on Demyx, I'll get you out of there!" Axel said.

He stood in his signature battle stance, and was about to summon flames into the palms of his hands.

"Axel don't!" Demyx said.

Axel froze.

"But Demyx it'll-"

"I know how to get out of this. Just give me a chance and don't summon any fire."

Axel was hesitant, but he stepped out of his pose.

"If that thing eats you, I'm burning this place down." he said.

"It won't trust me." Demyx said.

He smiled to reassure Axel, but his eyes were what convinced him more. His eyes always spoke the truth.

The Fly Trap moved Demyx closer to its mouth, showing more of its light red inside.

"You're not happy here, are you?" Demyx asked. "You don't like being here."

The Fly Trap froze.

"They took you from your home, didn't they?"

The Fly Trap's mouth closed so that only a small bit of the inside could be seen.

"You want to go home, don't you?"

The Fly Trap's mouth closed completely, and tilted its head, listening to Demyx's words.

"You're not supposed to be this big either. They did something to you, didn't they?"

The Fly Trap gave one deep coo, as if answering Demyx.

"I have a friend who can help. He's trapped somewhere in this lab, and my friends and I are looking for him. If you let me go, we can rescue him, and I can ask him to help you. What do you say?"

He looked at the Fly Trap, and in return, it looked at him. Slowly, the Fly Trap lowered Demyx, and pulled the vine off him.

"Thank you." Demyx said, looking up at the Fly Trap.

The Fly Trap gurgled, and curled back up in to his shrub camouflage.

"What in the world just happened?" Axel asked.

"The Fly Trap, it's in pain." Demyx replied.

"How do you know that?"

"It's not supposed to be this size. I think the botanists did something to it. And I'm sure that it has something to do with Marly."

"I still don't understand how you know all this."

"I've been in Marly's garden lots of times. I've learned a lot of tricks from him. Where's Vexen?"

"With those black flowers upstairs." Axel pointed to the ceiling.

"I need to tell him about this."

"I'm not sure he'll believe you."

"If he doesn't, he should at least know about it."

He walked past Axel to the stairs. Axel gave one last glance at the Fly Trap, and followed Demyx.

* * *

><p>Axel and Demyx couldn't get to Vexen due to the huge crowd gathered outside the room. They shoved their way through, and stumbled out in to the room. Vexen, Zexion, and Erb were standing together. Erb was shaking both their hands wildly with a large smile on his face.<p>

"This is incredible, just incredible! I knew you to had the greatest minds around." Erb said.

"You are much to kind." Vexen said.

"What's going on here?" Axel asked.

"The most fantastic thing!" Erb exclaimed.

He released Vexen's and Zexion's hands, and picked up a slab of wood from the silver table behind them. On the wood, was one of the black bulbs, but it was open to reveal its grey inside.

"Señor Katabu and Señor Genso have done what none of us have been able to! They have opened the mystery flower!"

A round of applause erupted from the crowd that died down when Erb put the flower back on the table.

"It's official, I must let you in on our greatest experiment. If you can figure out how to open this flower, then you can help us solve another mystery. Ven ven! All four of you! Follow me!"

The crowd split in two as Erb walked through it.

"How did you get it open?" Axel whispered.

"Magic." Vexen whispered back, and followed Erb.

"Magic?" Demyx questioned.

"Don't judge what works Shinsui." Zexion said as he followed Vexen.

"Wait, I need to tell you something." Demyx said, and jogged after them, followed by Axel.

They chased them down the hall until they caught up with them by the stairs.

"Ve- Katabu, I have something important to tell you." Demyx said.

"Later." Vexen said, going up the stairs.

"But I have to-"

"Later."

"But-"

"Hold your tongue."

They stopped outside of the hidden room they had passed earlier.

"Not many people know about what is in here, it is top secret, and I would have preferred to have kept it hidden, but you have proven that I can trust you to help us." Erb said. He stepped up to the door, and it slid open. "Come." he said, leading the way in to the lab.

"Vexen wait." Demyx whispered, grabbing Vexen's arm. "I have to tell you something."

"It can wait." Vexen said, yanking his arm free and walked in to the lab.

"But it's important." Demyx insisted.

"Didn't you want to know what was in here? Well, now you are getting your chance."

"But this is more important than-"

Demyx cut off, and froze at the sight in the middle of the room.

Floating, in a clear tube of water, was an unconscious Marluxia.

* * *

><p>AN: This came out way longer than I expected, and took so long to write. I was going to split it into two chapters, but I couldn't stop writing. Three languages went into this fic: English, Spanish, and Japanese. You're on your own in translating the Spanish, but I will translate the Japanese, which were their aliases.<p>

Jinsoku Shinsui- Rapid Flood

Mori Kaji- Forest Fire

Genjitsu Genso- Real Illusion

Kanrei Katabu- Cold Shoulder

It took me a while to find names that fit them and sounded cool.

Oh, and in Canell's case, if you were to add an A at the end of his name, it would be Spanish for cinnamon. As for Erb, I couldn't think of a better name. My fanfiction friend, KeiiSama, laughed when I said what his name was.


	5. Experimento: Controlar la Naturaleza

Pink hair that was once fluffy and full of life, now floated aimlessly. His white face and pale pink lips were missing the sapphire eyes, hidden behind closed eyelids. A mask was covering his mouth and nose with two tubes, one coming out at each side, snaking up to the top. His wrists were cuffed together by a thick, yet light metal cuff. A chain hung down from the cuffs, connecting it to the bottom of the prison. Marluxia floated in the center of his water prison and gratefully, he was still wearing his cloak, but the leather was starting to crack from the water.

"M-Mar-"

Axel's hands quickly covered Demyx's mouth before he could finish saying Marluxia's name. They both stared, their eyes wide, at the state of their friend. He looked like something you would find in Vexen's lab. Even Vexen and Zexion stood frozen with their mouths slightly agape.

"Here, is our greatest find." Erb said as he held out his arms to the lab. "Ven ven, come come." He waved to them. "Take a closer look. I have so much to explain about It." Erb marched inwards, followed by the turtle pace of the others. "Hmm… where do I start? There's so much to say."

"Who is this?" Vexen asked as he passed by Marluxia.

"Ah, that's am interesting question." Erb started. "You see, we have no idea who or what It is."

"How so?" Zexion asked, trying to sound surprised. "Isn't he human?"

"That's what we thought at first." Erb said. "But then we ran some tests, and discovered that It had blood, but no pulse."

"Wouldn't that mean he was dead?" Zexion asked.

"But that's the thing!" Erb exclaimed. "Even though It lacks a beating heart, It can still function and live! All the tests we have run have shown it!"

"Is that why you keep him here?" Vexen asked. "You are trying to figure out how he can live?"

"That's not the reason we captured It, this was just a bonus. No, the reason we captured It was because we have seen It control and bring life into the plants in this area!" Erb announced.

"That's impossible." Vexen said. "It is unheard of to have that ability."

"We thought so too! When we first saw It while gathering samples, we thought It was a tourist. But then, we saw It bring the life back into a dead flower. It was the most amazing and unbelievable thing we've ever seen!"

"What did you do after that?" Zexion asked.

"We cut the flower down and brought it back here and then followed It, just to make sure we weren't mistaken." Erb continued. "And we weren't. It kept astonishing us by performing more miracles. Of course, we gathered them as samples. But what It did would not be enough to see how It did it. So, we caught It. It was very simple to capture once It let It's guard down. Oh, if only you could have seen it!" As Erb explained in great detail how and where they captured Marluxia, Axel and Demyx were staring in a silent horror at their friend.

"Marly…" Demyx whispered as he put a hand against the glass.

"What the hell did they do to him?" Axel growled.

"He's asleep." Demyx said as his hand slid down the glass. "We have to get him out of there."

"But how?" Axel rapped his knuckles against the glass. "This is some strong stuff, and it doesn't look like it'll break easy."

"Breaking it may not be the best idea. We could get caught while trying to break it. And besides, how would we take off that cuff?"

"Hm? What if I heat up the water so that it can evaporate, then, when the water's gone, I can burn through the chain?"

"Axel, if you do that you'll end up boiling the water and cooking him. I think a trapped Marly is better than a boiled one, unless you're a cannibal."

"Okay then, since you keep shooting down my ideas, what do you think?"

"Hrm…?"

Demyx stepped back and took in the full size of the prison. It was a clear cylinder that was about 6 ½ feet tall, so Marluxia's 5'10 fit comfortably in the middle. The glass was most likely bullet proof, so it would be almost impossible to break. The prison was filled to the brim with clear blue water, and the chain only had a taste of rust. This status was not very approving of the rescue plan.

"They're going to have to change the water at some point." Demyx finally said.

"Come again?" Axel asked.

"Water doesn't stay pure forever." Demyx explained. "Whether something's in it or not. And it doesn't matter who or what's in it. It'll get dirty, and have to be changed." He looked over to where Erb was explaining something about the collected plant samples to Vexen and Zexion. "He should know when the next one will be." The Nocturne joined the three scientists, followed by a clueless Axel.

"So you see?" Erb continued. "As a group of only the best botanists in the world, this may be our best chance to finally accomplish out greatest dream. To be able to say that we are the masters of nature! That we will be the link between man and earth!" Erb was getting extremely emotional with his speech. "We too will soon be able to control nature!" He threw his arms into the air, the biggest smile on his face yet. There was a silence as the present Organization members processed what Erb was so happy about.

"C-control… nature…?" Axel questioned.

"Experimento: Controlar la Naturaleza. Experiment: Control Nature." Erb translated as he punched in a code into the computer behind him, bringing up a screen full of data. "All this data, is what we have discovered so far from our tests with him. Some showed us nothing, but others, directed us down paths that would lead us to our dream." He typed in another code, calling forth a digitalized picture of Marluxia with arrows pointed to him, and long lists of bulleted facts under them. "We believe that we may have finally done it." Erb's tone had grown serious, almost dark. His back was stiff as he leaned in closer to the blue screen, keeping his eyes glued on Marluxia's face. "Yes… we may have finally found your secrets." he whispered.

"Um… Professor Erb?" Vexen asked.

"Professor Erb! Professor Erb you were right! It worked!" Canell exclaimed as he hurried through the room, up to Erb.

"It did!" Erb asked. "Bring it in! Bring it in!"

Canell nodded, and clapped his hands. A short, pudgy man waddled into the room and in his chubby hands he carried a brown flower pot, occupied by a depressed looking Venus Fly Trap. The small plant seemed to sigh as it looked around its new surroundings. Demyx tugged lightly on Axel's sleeve, and stretched up to his ear.

"That's the same Fly Trap from earlier." Demyx whispered into the Pyro's ear.

"How do you know?" Axel whispered back.

"Do you know any other Fly Traps that move like that?" Demyx questioned.

"I see what you mean. But how did it go from that gigantic monster, to that pitiful thing?" Axel asked.

"We may find out soon." Demyx said, watching the pudgy man hand over the pot to Canell, who held it in front of Erb.

"Oooh." Erb swooned over the Fly Trap. The Fly Trap growled softly, and turned away from him. "This is amazing! Simply… fantastico! We've done it, Canell! We've done it!" Erb was giddy now, jumping from one foot to the other, trying to contain his joy.

"Excuse me, Professor Erb, but is this one of the specimens you've obtained?" Vexen asked.

"Yes yes, most very." Erb answered.

"Why are you so happy over it?" Axel asked.

"Because! We've figured out how we can change the shape and size of plants! Believe it or not, but this little one was just recently about the size of a house!" Erb said.

"How were you able to accomplish such a feat?" Zexion asked.

"With this." Erb said. He put the Fly Trap down on the nearest lab table, covered it with a plastic dome, and scurried off to Marluxia. The group followed him, very curious of what Erb had discovered. Erb shuffled around Marluxia's prison, pulled out a drawer, and reached in for a single vile filled with a dark red substance. "His blood."

"Blood?" All four impersonators said.

"It was an accident really." Erb said, running his index finger up and down the vile slowly. "A vile fell and broke in the pot of a red lily. Now, this lily was originally closed, but once the blood touched it, it opened. It was the brightest cherry red its ever been, and it glittered like the heavens. We had to know exactly what this meant. And we have found out so much… so much…" He was gripping the vile in his hands so tightly, his fingers were starting to turn red. "We need more blood." Erb said in a dull tone, returning the vile and shutting the drawer.

"Professor Erb, as I've mentioned before, I do not believe that Its blood is enough."

"I know, Canell. But I want to run a couple more tests on It before we try anything to risky." Erb said. "I would like you all to help where you can." Erb addressed the other four. "Now that we have the greatest botany minds from around the world under one roof, the dream, every botanist's dream, will become a reality. Come, Canell. We have so much to prepare." Erb was different now. His expression was no longer the happy, excited botanist they first met, but a serious, almost scary one. His back was stiff, his body tense, he was a man on a mission. A mission that could change nature as it is. They left, speaking in a Spanish conversation that was only meant for them.

"This isn't good." Vexen said once they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Demyx asked.

"Even though we no longer have a heart to pump the stagnant blood in our veins, loosing it is more deadly to us." Vexen explained.

"Some of our organs still need that blood, so the more blood they take from Eleven, the less he has to give to those organs, since we lack the ability to replace the blood that was taken." Zexion added.

"These botanists have failed to see that Eleven's blood loss is of danger to him." Vexen said.

"Or rather… Do you think, Four?" Zexion asked.

"I do not know, Six. We'll have to find out, soon." Vexen said.

"So you guys are saying that Marly could die, if they take out too much of his blood?" Axel asked.

"Yes." Vexen bluntly said.

"But that doesn't make any sense." Axel said.

"The Nobody body is hard to understand, Eight. Much harder than that of a Human. Six, we have to look into this more."

"Right." Zexion said. Now it was their turn to leave and talk amongst themselves, leaving behind the confused, younger Nobodies. Axel looked up at Marluxia, a mixture of worry and anger spread across his face.

"As if we'd let him die." he said. "Right Demyx? Demyx?"

The younger Nobody had wandered over to the depressed Fly Trap. Demyx was out of it. The words Vexen and Zexion said tearing at a part in him. The Fly Trap looked up at him, cooing weakly. Demyx put his hand on the dome trapping the Fly Trap. A small droplet of water appeared over the Fly Tap, and splashed on it, dowsing its yellowing body and dry soil. The Fly Trap's mouth curved up into a small smile, seeming to thank Demyx for his help.

"We're getting Marly out of here." Demyx said, standing straight. "We'll get him out, even if we take this place down in the process." He turned to Axel, the look in his face, the fire that burned in those normally calm sea green eyes, they meant business, a business that Demy never liked to show unless he had to. He hated the botanists, and wanted to see them come to an end. Axel was struck silent by Demyx's death glare. All he could do, was nod his agreement.

* * *

><p>AN: I have returned! Glad to finally be able to update my chapters! Woo! Erb is one crazy dude when he talks about his dream. I have a dream! Sorry, learning about MLK in my history class, and that's why I put in the botany dream. He inspired me to give them a dream. Now there be a very, angry Demyx. What shall the little Nocturne plan? Only my brain will decide. ;-D<p>

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.


	6. Last Straw

Six men were circled around Marluxia's prison while a low warning bell chimed, Demyx was amongst them. He and the others were chosen to release Marluxia from his prison and transport him to the small lab in the back of the current lab in order to have more blood drawn and go through regular procedures.

Demyx kept a stern look as the water that kept Marluxia afloat drained. The florist slowly lowered with the water, the only thing keeping him from sinking completely was the oxygen mask connected to the top. With the water drained he just hung there, limp and lifeless.

One of the chosen men, a tall lanky one with glasses that slid off his face, set a tall step ladder next to the prison. At the top, he punched a serial code into the number pad. The top popped off with a hiss and the glass cylinder disappeared into the ground. A round botanist this time went up to Marluxia to remove the oxygen mask and unlock the cuffs around his wrists. Demyx's face dared to cringe as Marluxia fell into a crumpled heap on the floor. Two more men, both slightly beefier than the other pathetic looking botanists, took a hold under Marluxia's arms and dragged him to the gurney where Demyx and the remaining botanist were waiting.

It pained Demyx to see just how tarnished Marluxia had become now that he wasn't blurred by water. He was paler, the color seeming to have been washed away. His delicate flesh as wrinkled as his cloak cracked. Breaths short and slow, face thin. Obviously, no one here bothered to take care of his nutritional needs. He had to pretend that this image did not affect him as he and the other botanist wheeled Marluxia away. All he wanted to do was run everyone over with the gurney as he fled the estate with his long lost friend. But that plan had no positive conclusion.

The small lab in the back of the larger lab only had a single large monitor and a medical table in the center. Demyx eyed the metal cuffs at the top and bottom of the table which he had a pretty good idea what they were for. Demyx stopped pushing the gurney but the other botanist kept pulling till he reached the table. The beefy botanists rejoined them to lift Marluxia onto the table and strap him in. Demyx mentally scowled as the cuffs were put to the use he was suspicious of. The helpers cleared out except for Demyx, who remained staring at his friend.

"_If I can get four streams cutting at those cuffs…"_ He was desperate to try it, he even had his arms raised, but he had to refrain from doing so. Even if he was able to release Marluxia what then? He had no plan of escape and he risked exposing himself and the other hidden Organization members. With a longing sigh he lowered his hands and turned to leave but ran right into Canell's chest.

"Oh, Shinsui, how nice to see you again." Canell smiled, which Demyx's rage interpreted as a sickly grin.

"Sorry, I was just leaving." Demyx forced himself to sound polite. He tried to leave, but Canell held onto this arm, keeping him in place.

"Why don't you stay? Our knowledgeable friends should be able to see what we do with our test subject." Canell offered. Demyx clenched his fists.

"_I want to drown you." _Demyx thought. "Of course, I am quite curious how you acquire the… samples you need from the s-subject." He had to force out those last words.

"Excellent." Canell seemed overly perky for Demyx. "Erb will be happy to have you here as an observer." He approached Marluxia.

"Erb takes part of this?" He asked with the curiosity he was expected to show while in disguise.

"Si! Of course!" Erb announced as he galloped happily into the room. "To have one of your knowledge so involved in our tests is a dream!" He shook Demyx's hand quickly. He let go of a mentally fuming Demyx and walked over to Marluxia. "Hm." He turned Marluxia's frail face to his, poking the cheeks and checking the inside of his mouth. "I think we should take a smaller sample this time and inject a bit more of the steroid solution into It. Just to perk It up a bit."

"St-steroid solution?" Demyx questioned. What exactly did this procedure involve?

"Do not worry. It is only to make sure It does not crumple in our hands. And it also seems to be adding a boost to the abilities It's blood produces."

"But won't that unbalance his vital systems?" Demyx questioned.

"Talves, maybe, but we should have what we need from It by then. Canell?"

"Everything is already prepared." Canell wheeled a small metallic table over to Erb. From the small collection of medical tools on top, he took and handed Erb a four inch long needle.

"_That's small?"_ Demyx asked, horrified to know what a normal size needle was. Erb nodded happily, taking the needle. He pushed up the cracked sleeve of Marluxia's cloak and looked for a spot on his arm that was not polished by a bruise from previous punctures. Demyx sucked in a sharp breath, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming out his furry at what they have done to Marluxia. Erb found the last patch of pale skin before jabbing the needle roughly in and drained Marluxia for the much wanted blood. Erb tapped the side of the needle full with crimson blood and grinned.

"This should be enough for our last experiment." He sealed the needle in a metallic box and handed it to Canell, neglecting the blood seeping out of Marluxia's puncture wound. "Get this in the fridge and tell the others to start the testing." Canell nodded and headed out, brushing past Demyx as he did so. He almost seemed to be mocking Demyx. "Now then." Erb took a needle from the table that was filled with a clear, sticky looking liquid. He pushed that needle through the same hole he had carved with the other needle. The steroid solution was a substitute for the wrongly taken blood.

"Is that it?" Demyx questioned, begging it to be.

"Well I do need one more sample." Erb said, twirling a sharp scalpel in his hand. Demyx remained silent, wide eyed at what he witnessed. Erb ran a plump finger down Marluxia's cheek, his eyes glazed over with a type of, luster. He took Marluxia's chin, pointing it up to face him. He leaned down, his cruel breath brushing against his face. "Such soft skin." he whispered and held the scalpel at the top of Marluxia's cheek. With a sound mimicking that of removing fat from a piece of meat, Erb cut off the top layer of skin from the cheek. Blood leaked from where the scalpel sliced away the pale skin from the rest of the body. Demyx's gut wrenched, daring to spew out the bile within. A dark grin plastered Erb's face as he lifted up the removed skin with a pair of tweezers. "Perfect, absolutely perfect." he chuckled, dropping the skin in a sealed container. Marluxia's face was tear streaked with ruby lines of agony. His expressionless sleeping face only made it the all more torturous to watch. "You may leave now." Erb said, his back to Demyx, holding the skin box up to the light. "So beautiful."

Demyx backed away from Erb silently, walked past everyone in the lab, glided with no set path down the hall, clambered clumsily down the stairs, slumped down another hallway, stopped outside of a door, and slammed it open.

Axel looked up in shock from the bed in the temporary quarters he was given and gasped at the tear streaked Nocturne in the door. "Demyx…?"

"Axel!" Demyx cried, flying at the older Nobody, crying heavily into his chest. "I want this to stop! I want this to stop!" Demyx begged.

"Stop what?" Axel questioned, reassuringly rubbing Demyx's back. Demyx hated to cry. He only did so when he was truly suffering. Axel knew Demyx must have seen something horrible happen to Marluxia that made his being crack.

"They're torturing Marly." Demyx started through sobs. "His arm… it's bruised from so many badly injected needles… they're pumping him with steroids… they're cutting away his flesh! Axel we need to get him out of here now or he'll die! He'll die if we don't start a plan to free him now! That Erb is worse than Vexen with his experiments! Axel we can't dilly dally anymore! We have to save him now or I'll do it myself!" Demyx's face was soaked. His element made his tear flow worse than most Nobodies. Probably one reason why he hated to cry

"Shh, shh." Axel whispered, drying of Demyx's dampened face with his sleeve. "Demyx please don't cry. I can't stand to see you like this." He wrapped his lithe arms around Demyx's smaller frame, bringing him into a close hug. "Whatever you saw, I know it must have been horrible. I won't let anymore of this continue happening. It's time to tell Vexen and Zexion that we can't wait until they have Marly hanging from a meat hook to start a rescue plan." Demyx cringed at Axel's symbolism, gripping him tightly, his body convulsing with new tears. "Sorry, sorry. Bad comparison." Axel quickly apologized, trying to ease the sorrow filled sitarist in his arms. "I promise, we're getting him out, tomorrow." It was a bid promise to make, but he knew it had to be made in order to actually start something. The boys spent the night together, Demyx's crying softly into Axel's chest and Axel comforting his sobbing best friend until Demyx passed out from exhaustion on Axel's chest. It would have been a cute sight if they weren't suffering greatly.

* * *

><p>"Vexen you have got to stop delaying this rescue plan just because you have interest in whatever the hell they're doing!" Axel bellowed at Vexen, who was barely giving him an ear as his blonde hair draped over the notes he was buried in. "Vexen!"<p>

"I told you that while under this lagoon you will refer to me as-"

"I don't care anymore!" Axel interrupted the chilly academic. "Marly is going to die in here if we keep up this act another day! Demyx saw what they were doing to him, it's not right! Either you and Zexion are going to help me and Demyx get Marly out of here or we are doing it ourselves and leaving you two behind!" Axel lived up to his name of the Flurry of Dancing Flames when angry.

"Listen closely." Vexen said, putting down his notes and turning to Axel and Demyx with a scowl. "It has only been three days. That is not enough time to fully study what the humans do here or to come up with a plan that is guaranteed to work in our favour. Ignore everything you see here because it is influencing your mind set. Once we have more of an idea what we are facing, then we will act. But until then, do as you are told."

"But we can't leave Marly here to suffer anymore! Have you even seen him!? He's like… he's like… dead! He's a sad excuse of what he used to be! Stop being so selfish and do something to help him!" Demyx ordered.

"Watch your tone." Zexion spoke, pointing a pen at Demyx. "Or we will do nothing at all and just leave him here." He turned back to the blue spotted white plant he was looking over. Demyx's hands clenched. He wanted to bark at them more, but he heard the outcome. Marly would never get out. He turned grumpily on his heels and stomped out of the isolated lab.

"Demyx." Axel quickly followed him, stopping him with a hold on his wrist. "Dem I know we didn't get the outcome we wanted, but Vexen has a point. We don't know what we're up against."

"But-"

"Stop." Axel held a finger to Demyx's trembling lips. "We will get Marly out of here safe and sound with only a few nicks and bumps. Trust me." He gave Demyx a reassuring hug. "Come on, if we get the idea of what we're dealing with like Vexen keeps insisting, we'll get Marly out of here faster. Okay?"

"Okay…" Demyx sniffed, rubbing his nose. He really just wanted to leave this place behind with his two best friends at toll. He followed Axel from the lower level of the lab and up to the main center floor to work on their roles. The image of Marluxia's flesh being skinned from his cheek was something he wouldn't be able to ignore like Vexen had ordered. The way the slicing sounded, the blood that oozed from the wound, the way Marluxia didn't seem to care in his unconscious state… just thinking about that tied a knot in his throat.

When they reached the designated floor, they were greeted by cheers and botanists throwing toasts around the lab.

"What's going on here?" Axel asked.

"Kaji, Shinsui, I am glad you are here! We've done it! We've finally broken the barrier that separated us from our subject's power! We soon will be able to control la naturaleza like It can!" Erb cried out happily, offering Axel and Demyx a drink of their owns.

"What do you mean?" Axel asked, declining the drink.

"It! We have been able to use It's powers successfully! We can control nature just like It! We've done it!" Erb continued, helping himself to the drinks he had previously offered. "The last blood and flesh samples were all we needed to finalize our tests. Finally, after ages of wanting to mimic la Mamma Nature, we can! It's a blessing! We were meant for this!"

"You guys can control nature now?" Erb was oblivious to the hint of worry behind Axel's question.

"Almost. There is just one more thing we must do in order to have a solid grip on it." Erb said, finishing the drinks. "We must turn It into a battery."

"B-battery?" Demyx asked, now gripping Axel's sleeve. "H-how?"

"Oh, it's extremely simple." Erb said, twisting the empty bottles in his hands, staring blankly at them. "A shame though, I have grown fond of It, but It's death will be worth it." He walked away with a dark cloud shadowing the grin on his face.

"D-death?" Axel asked, wide eyed. Demyx was gone. Disappeared back through the door they had come in instantly after Erb's explanation. "W-wait!" Axel cried, running to try and catch up with the anguished Nocturne. He was done. Waiting was a no anymore. He had to act. He returned to Vexen's and Zexion's private lab with a slam so hard the wall cracked.

"We are acting now!" Demyx bellowed.

"I thought we went through this alre- gah!" Demyx grabbed Vexen's coat collar and roughly yanked him into his space.

"Listen here old man!" Demyx shouted, tilting his head up slightly so Vexen had a clear view of his hateful glare. "They are going to kill Marly to get his powers! Kill him! He'll fade away into darkness and we'll never get him back! I don't give a damn about anything that you ordered us to do; I am not losing one of my best friends! I am going to get him out of here by myself and take you two down in my way if I have to! So either you get that thick skull of yours out of these pitiful human experiments and help me or I will force you to do so against your will!"

"That's a big threat coming from one as weak as you. You don't have the nerve to force anyone to do anything."

"Wanna bet?" Demyx challenged. He slammed the palm of his hand into Vexen's chest, making Vexen go wide-eyed. "You should know just what power I truly have." he whispered.

"F-fine…" Vexen said in defeat. "Six."

"I'll start a plan now." Zexion said, pulling out some blueprints of the lab from his notes.

"Nice to see I'm finally being heard." Demyx lowly said, pushing Vexen away.

"Demyx?" Axel had entered the room just in time to see Demyx threatening Vexen with a tone he never heard from the lovable Nocturne. He stepped back from the glare full of pure rage and vigor he received feeling, for the first time, fear towards one which he has scared multiple times before.

"This place is going down. Nothing will remain. All their findings, burned to ash. Their dreams, sunk. The lives they could have changed will remain static. Some lives, might even stop. They will learn by error what happens when you challenge Organization Thirteen." Demyx coldly spoke. This was the first time in years that Demyx was acting like the Nobody he was born as.

* * *

><p>AN: Hello all my wonderful readers I am back. Sorry for having been gone for so long. Senior year is stressing. But I hope this chapter makes up for being gone for so long. Please enjoy and I am sorry for what I did to Marly. Botanists are evil.<p>

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts


	7. Timber

Demyx walked with a deep glare in to the dark, empty, hidden laboratory. Finally, they had a plan to save Marluxia and get the hell out of the mad botanist's lab.

The first step was a quick survey of the lab holding Marluxia to see what they had to work with; what could catch fire and what couldn't etc. Demyx quickly volunteered for the survey, wanting to be as big a part of the take down as possible. Humans that can so easily harm another living thing so easily without regret shouldn't deserve the Heart the Organization so desperately desires.

Demyx passed by some tables scattered with notes on Marluxia and books of the plants in the area. "Those will be good fuel." He said to himself, taking a mental place marker. He looked up to the ceiling at the bolted windows opening portals to the lagoon above them. If they hadn't been on the top floor of the three level lab the next part of their plan would have been more complicated to accomplish. He raised his arm to wave it then clench his fist. The window over him groaned with the strain of water pushing against it. "It needs something more to weaken them."

He continued around the lab looking and making spots in his head that would aide the plan best. He stopped when an eerie blue glow cast upon him. He sighed and looked up at the reason for the attack. Marluxia's water tank cast the only lighting in the room but the sick blue light was bright enough to light a good portion of the lab dimly.

Demyx walked up to the tank, keeping his sorrow clad eyes on his unconscious floating friend. If their plan failed not only could they lose Marluxia and his power to these humans, they also risk being wrapped up in to the same fate as well. "Don't worry, Marly." He whispered, gently placing a hand on the glass. "We'll get you out, I promise."

"Shinsui? I didn't expect to see you out at this hour."

Demyx jolted, turning around to face the approaching Canell.

"Oh, Canell." Demyx said, changing his posture to a straight and proper one, like the scientist he's playing as. "I couldn't sleep with the anticipation for tomorrow. It's a phenomenal breakthrough."

"Ah, I understand." Canell stood next to Demyx to look up a Marluxia with a look of pride. "Finally, every botanist's dream, the dream to control nature at our whim, will finally come true. All because of this creature." He touched the glass. "This creature we found by chance. How simple that such unattainable power was waiting for us here, all along. It makes you wonder what other powers could be out there, doesn't it?"

"I… suppose so." Demyx stepped a bit away from Canell. Canell's expression grew slightly wild as he stared at Marluxia, talked about "unattainable power", seemed to be thinking how he could find those powers himself to do to them the same as Marluxia—to be able to use them. "But it was lucky to find him here. There might not be that much luck in finding, if any exist, more powers."

"You lack faith, Shinsui." Canell shook his head. "I know there are more like It, I've been in this business too long to know I can't push back impossible possibilities." Canell clenched his hand, now glaring up at Marluxia. "What else are you hiding?"

"I should leave." The intense aura radiating from the scientist who evidently had been obsessing over the "unattainable powers" for nights on end gave Demyx a cold chill. As he turned to leave Demyx's wrists were suddenly grabbed and pulled back, pinned to Marluxia's water tank. He was surprised, especially when meeting the hungry green eyes of Canell.

"You have something special to yourself as well." Canell said in a low tone.

"Excuse me?" Demyx wasn't enjoying experiencing Canell's mood shifts.

"You, when I first saw you walk in, I knew there was something different about you."

"C-could you let me go?" Demyx turned his head away as Canell leaned closer.

"I've researched some on you. I found details on your works and degrees, but no picture of you, why is that?" Canell asked in soft breaths.

"I… I'm not very comfortable with pictures. Please, let me go."Demyx asked again. He wished he could slash out at Canell with his water but it would ruin everything if he exposed himself then. So he'd have to put up with this, no matter how scared he was.

"I wonder what sort of experiments I could do to you. What I could make you become. How I could make your perfect form bend to my ideal state." Canell's low whisper scared Demyx even more. It was cold, making his skin tingle with nerves at the threat.

"I-I-I'm not comfortable with this-ah!" Canell's tongue met Demyx's neck, tasting up the length to under his jaw.

"Sorry, force of habit from long ago." Canell softly says. "I just needed to be sure of your perfection."

Demyx clenched his hands. Now he really wished he could use his water to get himself out of this and away from this weirdo. "Pl-please let me go…"

"Don't be scared." Canell pressed his forehead to Demyx's temple. "I haven't played with a perfect body since I met Erb and grew fascinated by his work. But for you, I might just turn back to my old ways, one last time, just to see you evolve under my hands. If you're interested, I'd be eager to open my locked chest of my true trade for you after the celebration tomorrow. I do hope, as a scientist, you're curious to see just what I can do." He whispered softly in to Demyx's ear, like he was trying to seduce Demyx to sub-come to his offer. Demyx felt Canell brush his lips softly against his ear before finally releasing him.

Demyx slid away quickly from who he's now assuming to be a scientist who needs to spend less time under the lagoon and seek some sort of therapy for his sick obsession of perfection.

"What the hell was that?" Demyx rubbed his neck. "That guy went from botanist to mad scientist." Demyx shuddered. "No wonder I felt like that guy was acting weird around me. He wants to turn me in to some abomination of his." He sighed deeply. "Why do I always attract these kinds of people?" Demyx made a mental note to take particular aim at Canell during the attack tomorrow. He needed payback after that psycho assault.

He returned to his shared room with Axel.

"How'd it go?" Axel asked as soon as Demyx closed the door. He was nervous about Demyx going on his own to a point he stayed on the edge, staring at the door till Demyx returned.

"I figured out the positions, plus we need some work on the glass above us so I can do my part right." Demyx answered.

"I can probably handle that. Anything else?"

"Yeah." Demyx rubbed his neck. "The people down here are insane."

"I think we've established that."

"No, I mean. Scary insane." Demyx shook his head. "I ran in to Canell before heading here and… he was acting weird… telling me that he wanted to experiment on me."

"He didn't catch you using water did he?" Axel stood from the bed, worried.

"No he just… said I was perfect or something like that and wants a chance to make me… his creation." Demyx shuddered, vividly remembering Canell's hungry look and chilling words.

"And what'd you say?" Axel hugged him knowing all too well the sensitivity Demyx had towards assaults.

"I left as soon as he let me go. It was creepy. Especially when he… licked my neck"

"He what?" Axel looked down at the younger Nobody hugging him.

"He said it was a force of habit from before. I just want to save Marly and get out of here before any more nonsense things happen. It's too much stress."

"Just wait till tomorrow." Axel nuzzled the smaller one. "We'll drag them all down in to darkness."

* * *

><p>"Siñoras! Siñores! My friends we've done it!" Erb announced to the floor of assembled scientists who he had finally allowed entrance to the hidden lab that only a few had the rights to enter before. He's standing in front of Marluxia, Canell at his side holding a small handgun that had been altered with tubes and its barrel holding a pink-green dust. "Here, my friends, held in the hands of my trusted partner is but a small concentration of what we have accomplished." Erb continues. "Time and time of working and we have finally accomplished the impossible, the ability to control Mother Nature at our whim just as this," he pointed to Marluxia, "did when we first found It. And once we use It to finally power the computer we have created we will be set for life!"<p>

The entire crowd cheered, raveling in the outstanding accomplishment. All but three faces in the crowd.

"What do you think that computer thing will do?" Axel asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Zexion replied. "Once they transfer Eleven's life force in to it it'd be like he'd become the computer."

"I'm amazed these humans have managed to create such advanced mechanics in such a short period of time." Vexen said. "I'm curious how they plan on doing the transfer."

"Can we be curious later? We have to save Marly before that." Axel hissed at them.

"Very well." Vexen sighed, though he wished he could have seen it. "Have you set up your flames?"

"All twenty four of them where Demyx said. I'll heat the windows when we're close to bailing out so I can use a stronger heat." Axel nodded.

"Where is Nine anyway?" Zexion asked. "He's the one who insisted on doing this now."

"He said he had something to do first but he'd be here." Axel looked back to Erb who had gone on explaining how they had found Marluxia, the experiments they'd gone through, and how, though they would lose Marluxia, the computer would work and guarantee to gift them the power they all desire.

"I've grown attached to this flor here, but It has a bigger destiny. It has given us wonder, new knowledge, an open mind and now It will help us make our world, our home, ideal." Erb placed a hand on Marluxia's tank. "Gracias por todo. Eda un honor trabajar con usted." He bowed his head then looked back to the hyped up audience. "Now then, my friends, we shall celebrate first and for the closing to this momentous day I invite you all to my personal lab to watch the moment our dream comes true." The crowd cheered again and the mood of celebration ignited. "Canell, please take care of our little experiment down in the Green Room then come join the celebration."

"Yes, sir." Canell left, taking the altered gun with him as Erb jumped and joined the drinking botanists.

"Where's he going?" Axel was suspicious, not to mention bitter, to Canell after what Demyx told him last night.

"Never mind him, Eight." Vexen huffed. "Just mingle with the others until Nine returns. Without him we can't start or end the attack."

"And keep your flames small so no one sees them." Zexion added. "Why did we even give such a big responsibility to one who does the least work?"

"Cram it." Axel snorted. "Come on, Dem…"

...

...

...

"I know you're not happy down here but don't worry, we're going to take down this place once and for all." Demyx ran his hand over a thick vine resting across his lap. "And I'm going to make sure you survive."

He looked up at the large Venus Fly Trap looming over him in the Green Room. The Fly Trap had been victim to the botanists' Marluxia power experiments ever since it was brought down here. Going from small to big to small to big again, the stress to its body was visible in its yellow leaves, bent body and upturned roots. As much as the light bulbs above pretended to be the sun they were no replacement for a plant smarter and with more life to it than an average plant. If it stayed in the lab for much longer there soon wouldn't be something to save but mulch.

The Fly Trap leaned its large head down to softly nuzzle the top of Demyx's soft head, purring lightly. Demyx patted the bottom of the large mouth with a small smile.

"If I knew how to shrink you back to normal I would."

"Shinsui?"

Demyx looked to the door and gulped. The sliding door closeed behind Canell with a click as he just stood there, watching Demyx in amazement who was easily petting the plant beast no one had been able to get near.

"C-Canell…"

"How did you manage this?" Canell approached Demyx but the Fly Trap stoped him from getting too close with a low growl.

"I…umm… talking to plants…"

"Of course. Such a simple concept but it's genius when it comes to this mistake." Canell noded, the Fly Trap growled angrily. "You exceed my expectations so much."

"Sh-shouldn't you be at the celebration?" Demyx really wanted to change the subject.

"I was. But I came here to fix this mistake with our newest findings." Canell gestured to the gun he qA holding. "Though now I think that can wait."

"Fix it?" Demyx looked to the gun then to the Fly Trap. If he could get the gun and keep Canell away that would make this part of the plan easier. "Yes, I think it can wait as well."

"Come again?" Canell seemed a bit surprised by Demyx's answer.

"I was thinking about your offer." Demyx stood and moved closer to Canell. "And I just couldn't get it out of my mind. I want, need, to know what you can do."

Canell quickly sliped the gun in to his coat pocket and moveed his hands to Demyx's face, one at his chin the other at the back of his head, tilting it up. "Are you serious?" He looks over Demyx's face with wide excited eyes. "Will you really let me alter perfection once again?"

"Yes." Demyx breathed out softly. "My lust for the oddities is telling me so."

Canell steped closer, pressing his taller body to the smaller one. "Oh how eager I've been to hear you accept my offer. I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon."

"The sooner we start, the sooner I'll be made absolutely perfect by your hands." Demyx ran his hands down Canell's waist.

"I will make you so perfect. You are going to be my greatest morph." He presseed his forehead to Demyx's. "You and I, we'll be an unmatched duo."

"I agree, but there's one thing I need you to do first."

"What is it? Anything to make you comfortable." Canell whispered softly against Demyx's lips.

Demyx smirked. "Take a drink." He pulled the gun from Canell's coat and with a quick flick of his wrist pulled the water flowing through the pipes in the wall, shooting off the spigot where drops used to fall one by one. The water shoots to Canell and encases him in a water orb that pulls him from Demyx. Inside the orb he looks around, confused, holding his breath, panicking. "Remember when you said that there might be other unattainable powers out there? Well, you're looking at one." Demyx smugly says as he waves the gun in front of Canell. "Next time, don't be so handsy." He snaps his hand towards the wall flinging the orb towards it. It pops with the loud thud of Canell slamming against it and with a soft rustle he slides to the grass in an unconscious heap. "Now that he's out of the way." Demyx looked to the Fly Trap and aimed the gun at it. "This should fix you right up, I hope." With a gust of pink-green dust encircling it the Fly Trap shrinks back to the normal size from when Marluxia first gave it life. It purrs and chirps, grateful to be itself again. "We're not done yet." Demyx scooped up the little plant and placeed it in a potted plant on the table behind him. Then, similar to what he did with Canell, he traped the Fly Trap in a bubble of water making sure to keep an air pocket inside. "You're going to need this, trust me. I'll be back for you once everything is over.

The Fly Trap gives him a nod.

...

...

...

Axel looked around the lab growing more and more impatient. "Demyx you said you'd be right back." He huffed to himself.

"I am back."

"Dem?"

Demyx strolled casually to stand next to Axel holding a cup of water. "Hi."

"Don't 'hi' me. Where have you been?" Axel asked.

"I had some things to take care off." Demyx took a light sip of water. "I miss anything?"

"Only the fact that they plan on killing Marly after this party."

"Don't worry." Demyx smiled against the rim of his cup. "Marly isn't the one suffering today."

A large boom echoed through the lab silencing the jolly scientists. Another boom over them, louder, and another; the water outside the lab forced in to underwater waves to crash against the lab from all sides. The scientists look up in confusion at the rumbling-shaking interrupting their festivity.

"Finally." Zexion huffed. He backed in to a corner where he was able to hide his open Lexicon behind his back. In the next slam he cast an illusion to made it seem like the roof was starting to crack and grow bigger with each slam. That started the scientists bellow in to a panic. They watched their steel roof in horrid silence, with a touch of gasps, crack as easy as a pie crust with each unnatural slam. "Your turn." Zexion nodded to Vexen.

Vexen looked up at the large "crack" and on the next slamming increment ice started to creep from its center. The ice crawled across the ceiling then down the sides quickly till the entire dome was layered in a thick ice sheet. A cold chill started to spread with a light chilly mist that hurt the scientist to the bone as they shook with fear.

"Professor, what's happening?" A young, frightened botanist with glasses too big for his rat face asked Erb.

"No se…" Erb answered, completely lost as he stared at the ice sheet freezing his lab. "I have never seen anything like this before." His answer wasn't comforting to the others. As they mumbled amongst one another, frightened and questioning, Vexen snuck along the wall to Marluxia.

Axel watched Vexen till he made it to the control panel keeping the Assassin trapped but alive. The red head looked to the shivering Nocturne next to him, cracked his fingers and rolled his shoulders.

"My turn, finally."

A scream from the far right of the room alerted everyone to the large flame that had just erupted to the height of the dome. Another scream towards the back when another jet of flames rose, this one having awoken under a table, eating it and the research on top. One by one and with a scream accompanying each, all twenty four of Axel's flames awoke around the lab, melting the walls in to a cold shower on to the scientists.

"Erb this is madness!" A blonde, shrill botanist squeaked.

"Quick, put out the flames!" A more built male botanist ordered. He and two others quickly found the fire hose and took aim at the closest fire jet to them.

"How troublesome." Vexen huffed, looking from his work at cracking the code to free Marluxia. He waited for when the "hero" scientists were about to release the water to raise his hand and freeze the water. He smirked when they dropped the hose and icicle sticking from it in shock and returned to his hacker work.

"You doing okay, Demyx?" Axel asked.

"Yeah, staying hydrated." Demyx answered, taking another drink of water. Things were going better than planned, more amusing really. The more they panicked and worried about saving the lab the less they paid attention to Vexen. Once he gets MArluxia out all they need is a portal, a flood and they're home.

"Shinsui!" The panic quiet and all looked to the call.

"Canell? What happened to you?" Erb asked.

"Shinsui!" Canell repeated, more as a growl than a call. He was dripping wet, leaning against the open sliding door with a slouch with his hair sticking over his face save for the one visible glaring furious eye. "Shinsui can control water! He's one of those like that pink thing!" Canell spat. The scared botanists looked from Canell then to Demyx. Demyx tapped his fingers against the side of his water cup, staring down at the small ripples he was making. Then he looked up with a sly, mocking grin.

"You got me." He said calmly and with a cock of his head two water streams from the melted ice shoot out to Canell, hitting him in his temples to knock him out once again. "Oops, my bad." Demyx said with fake sympathy.

"Get him!" Erb quickly orders.

"Woah there. Before you get so grabby." Axel stepped in front of Demyx. "Since we're showing off hidden talents, might as well show mine." In a burst of flames Axel burned off his disguise till he was down to his Organization uniform. "My name's Axel, got it memorized?"

"You! You're the one making this fire!" A botanist from the crowd accused.

"Great deduction." Axel sarcastically claped which causes the twenty four flames to merge in to six larger flames each pointed under one of the thick windows bolted to the dome.

"Todo este tiempo, tu." Erb clencheed his hands. "All this time you, the both of you, have hidden from me your powers!"

"It's kinda obvious why." Axel replied. "We're here to rescue our friend you're torturing."

"Friend?" Erb nearly shouted.

"The one you took. And if you haven't realized it now, we're not the scientists you expected." Demyx added.

"And if you hadn't realized that, then you wouldn't have realized our friend Vexen there nearly busted Marly free either." Axel smirked as the water started to drain from Marluxia's tank.

"You as well!?" Erb's trust was breaking.

"So sorry, but I did rather enjoy studying some of your findings." Vexen said to the shocked Erb.

"Leave my experiments alone!" Erb stepped to Vexen but was pushed back by an invisible barrier. "Què?"

"Since the troublesome youths have exposed themselves, might as well not hide it either." Zexion walked up next to Vexen holding open his Lexicon.

"No…" Erb was frozen with shock.

"Humans, so easy to manipulate." Zexion continued. "It's best that neither you or your colleagues move at this point. Water, flames, ice, illusions, it appears we have the advantage over you and your numbers."

"They're monsters!"

"Erb do something!"

"Don't let him do this to us!"

"They're just projects like the other one!"

Cries from his friends called out to Erb, wanting to encourage him to do something to save them from the threat. But Erb was a smart man. They were four and he many, but they had power. Power he always wanted but his simple human body could never deliver. He stood still, watching as the illusionist and ice maker pulled his greatest find from its tank.

"Maybe in different circumstances, we could have had some stories to tell one another." Erb quietly said. Vexen and Zexion looked to him but remained silent as they opened a portal and carried Marluxia through.

"Well since that's taken care of. Demyx?" Axel called down his flames and opened a portal.

Demyx calmly sat his empty cup down and walked so he stood in front of the frightened botanists. They cowered away, grouping together like hunted sheep.

"Now then, I do hope you've learned a little something about taking what isn't yours and then breaking it." He raised his arms. "I hope you can swim." In one swift movement he brought down his arms crossed in front of him. The glass above cracked, weakened from the fire thrust up at them, and broke away letting in torrent streams of lagoon water in to the lab.

Everyone started running, panicking as the lab quickly started to fill with the murky water. Erb stood still, never having moved from his position except to turn around to watch his fellow scientists scramble and the remaining Nobodies leave through their portal. Erb watched his friends whom he hand picked to join him under the lagoon panic, run, search for an escape, topple over the unconscious Canell who's body helped keep the lab doors open as the water continued to rise

Everything he loved, strove for, admired ever since he found solace in the gentle plants he would watch for hours since his youth—gone because he let his studies of the impossible overcome everything else. Everything else he should have valued more.

"You are your own enemy…" Erb's voice was a bubble in the water flowing over his head.

* * *

><p>AN: And I am back my lovely readers who have been waiting so long for me to update this. Phew. I am so glad to finally have had the time to work on this fic. Let me tell you, multitasking between college and attempting to be an author is something on its own level. Any who, Marluxia is free but at the costs of his fellow Nobodies acting as emotionless as the way they are meant to be. Well, at least towards humans anyway. I have one more chapter for this which I'm almost done writing, and I do have an idea for a sequel to this fic. And that idea gets a bit weird. But that's for future me to think about how to write and when to publish. Look out for more updates. I'm hoping to keep them more frequent. Love to all my readers!<p>

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.


	8. And Home Safe We Are

Marluxia groaned as he slowly started to come around. His head felt like a heavy bag of compost. Like he had been lacking a good night's sleep. He shifted to find a more comfortable position in his bed, but he couldn't. Something was keeping him from turning.

He opened his eyes and saw water. Water all around him. Still, only moving as he shifted his head. Beyond the water there were eyes. Eyes all around him staring at him from outside the glass tube. Then there were the chains at his wrists and the mask on his face pumping in pure oxygen to his lungs. Who were they? Why was he here? What were they planning on doing with him? What? What…

Water turning black with his growing panic. Their eyes gaining a wide toothy grin bellow then that mocked him, laughed at him, spoke in some language he couldn't comprehend. Everything swirled. Going out of focus. Their laughs all he heard.

"Marly… Marly!"

"Marluxia shot up from his bed panting, his frayed hair falling over his eyes and sweat rolling down his pale neck.

"Marly?" Demyx repeated. "Are you okay?"

Marluxia looked up at the owner of the soft sea green he thought he had lost. He let it all out.

"Demyx!" Marluxia grabbed Demyx in a tight hug against his chest, pressing his face to the top of the soft mullet letting free uncontrollable tears to soak the soft locks. "Demyx it really is you!"

"Y-yeah, it is…" Demyx, who was bent at an angle that made the air sting his throat as he breathed thanks to Marluxia's grab, replied.

"Told you he'd be fine."

"Axel?" Marluxia sniffed and looked up at the flaming pyro sitting cross armed on the soft green bed.

"Control yourself, would you? You're supposed to be the mature one of us." Axel huffed.

"I can't believe it…" Marluxia hugged Demyx closer. "I'm free."

"Marly, do you remember what happened to you?" Demyx wheezed.

Marluxia shook his head and hid his face in Demyx's soft hair again. "I just remember being taken, drugged and then... sometimes I heard voices. I couldn't move no matter how much I tried to escape…"

Demyx, the best he could in his position, hugged Marluxia. "Botanists are to blame. They…"

"Were going to kill you for your freaky flower power." Axel said bluntly.

"Axel!"

"You can't hide it from him, Demyx."

"But the way you said it!"

"Would you have preferred I sung it to him? Show tunes are lovely for telling someone about how they almost died."

"Oh now you're just being mean. A simple-"

"It's fine." Marluxia smiled softly. Their arguments, no matter how dumb, he missed. "It's better that I knew the truth." He finally released Demyx so Demyx could sit next to him in a more comfortable position. "How'd you get me out?"

"Well… we went to Vexen." Demyx started.

"Who got a bookworm." Axel continued.

"We snuck in the lab under names of botanists."

"Grew bored out of our minds waiting."

"Finally started an attack before it was too late."

"Got you out."

"Brought you home."

"Tucked you in and even changed you in to some comfy clean clothes."

"I can see that." Marluxia said, looking down at his close fitting long sleeved pale green shirt he had cut the collar off to allow a more comfortable fit and the black fluffy pj bottoms he was wearing underneath the sheets. He looked around his garden room next. He never thought he would miss it like he did then. "Thank you, so much."

"Seeing you nude is worth thanking?" Axel questioned.

"We weren't going to let them kill you." Demyx said, ignoring Axel's comment.

"Though it would have made our life more peaceful." Axel tried, not appreciated being ignored.

"Axel!"

"It's okay. I know he's kidding. He probably has a lot of pent up jokes he needs to let out." Marluxia said calmly.

"Actually… not really…" Axel said.

Marluxia shook his head and sighed. The three remained silent for some time, thoughts crossing about their experiences and what the future would have been like with only two.

"Th-that reminds me." Demyx said in an attempt to break the heavy silence. "I brought something back for you from the lab, Marly. Like a welcome home gift." He stood from the bed and walked to one of Marluxia's plant shelves where he pulled a small pot from the collection and returned to the bed. The small Fly Trap looked up at Marluxia and purred its greeting.

"Hey!" Marluxia exclaimed with a smile. "I didn't think I'd see him again."

"The botanists were experimenting on him. He was their test subject when it came to seeing if they had figured out how to use your powers." Demyx handed the potted Fly Trap to Marluxia.

"Oh… I'm so sorry I got you wrapped up in that mess." Marluxia apologized and scratched the gentle Fly Trap under its chin.

"That thing was even freakier when it was huge. It tried to eat Demyx." Axel huffed.

"It didn't know who I was." Demyx rolled his eyes. "He just assumed I was a scientist, like the others, and wanted to harm him."

"How did you save him?" Marluxia asked, smiling at the potted plant.

"Well, since we were going to sink the lab I trapped him inside a water bubble with air and then went back for him once you were settled and there he was, floating on the surface." Demyx answered.

"You should tell him how you were able to shrink it back down from the monster plant it was before." Axel said with a smirk.

"Ahh…" Demyx's face grew red in deep embarrassment. "M-maybe another time…" He tried to laugh it off but it was obvious to Marluxia it must have been something pretty embarrassing he must have had to do. "Anyway. I'm sure he'll be happier here with you than somewhere someone can see him and try to experiment on him again."

"Yeah. Luther here will have a nice comfy home right next to me."

"Luther?" Axel asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well he has to have a name now that he's part of the group. Isn't that right, Luther?" Marluxia asked the newly named Fly Tap who nodded in agreement.

"I'm trapped with a bunch of loonies." Axel hid his face in the palms of his hands and sighed heavily. "Who names a plant?" Marluxia chuckled then frowned at Luther's yellow leaves.

"I think someone could use a little touch up." Marluxia waved his hand in front of Luther, but nothing occurred. "Huh?" He tried again, but still nothing. Again and again he tried. The leaves remained their yellow shade instead of the vibrant green he was aiming for. "Wh-what's happening?" Marluxia started to panic.

"Um…" Demyx took Luther from Marluxia and set him down on the night table. "Vexen said that because of what the botanists did, you won't be able to use your abilities for some time while your body recuperates."

"What!?" Now Marluxia was frantic. "Then they did take my abilities!?"

"Not necessarily…" Demyx said lowly.

"With all the blood they took and steroid they pumped in you it took Vexen a lot of work to fix it so that you were at least in this stable state, as frantic as you are. The tube you were in at the lab was keeping you alive but when it came to taking you out of it, your time cut down pretty quick. And Vexen got petty grumpy when it comes to mixing blood and darkness together on a deadline. Something about it being a delicate process that can't be rushed." Axel answered Marluxia.

"He said it might take a while before your body equilibrates. And while your anilities readjust you might experience convulsions."

"Seizures." Axel corrected Demyx.

"I was trying to make the bow less." Demyx frowned. "But it might not happen all the time, just when your body hits a stressed point in the readjustment."

"He said to take one of these pills after each seizure to calm your boy and have a less chance of another one starting soon after." Axel tossed a pill bottle filled with orange round pills to Marluxia.

"So I'm a powerless, useless Nobody?" Marluxia said while glaring at the pills.

"No. you're not." Demyx took the pills from Marluxia and set them next to the concerned Luther. "You're our friend who ran in to some bad luck and now we're going to help you in any way we can until you are your powered self again."

"Promise?" Marluxia asked, his eyes starting to tear and lips quiver.

"Cross Kingdom Hearts and hope to fade." Demyx said with one of his genuine childlike smiles.

Marluxia grinned wide and yanked Demyx in a tight lung squeezing hug. "Thank you."

"How sappy-gah!" Marluxia pulled Axel in to the hug as well. He hugged the two younger Nobodies to his chest and nuzzled the tops of their heads.

"I'm not letting either of you go for the rest of the day, got it?" Marluxia declared.

Demyx giggled. "Alright, Marly."

"Can't… breathe…" Axel gasped.

"Good." Marluxia said with a smirk.

Oh, how he just loved these two. Even the grumpy flaming tart.

* * *

><p>AN: And so after another cheesy ending I end another fic, but I already have two other fics planned that branch off after this. I wouldn't call the sequels, more like continuations to the never ending story. It'll make more sense when I write them, which won't be long actually. I'm experimenting on using cover images so on my next fic I'll be putting up a cover image just to add a bit more to the story. If you like it, I'll do it for the fics to continue from now on. Okay, I hope you enjoyed and look out for another round from yours truly. Love to all my dear readers!<p>

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Just my brain.


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